


It Wasn't Supposed To Be This Way

by legitnayeon



Category: TWICE (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/F, F/M, Fluff and Angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-10
Updated: 2019-04-07
Packaged: 2019-10-07 23:08:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 15
Words: 62,977
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17374958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/legitnayeon/pseuds/legitnayeon
Summary: Son Chaeyoung has always led a normal life, one with constant dependence on coffee and a whole lot of luck. She continues to live this life until one day, she finds that everywhere she goes, absolutely everything she imagines goes her way. Is this really luck or something much much bigger?TWICE Superhero AU//Updates Every Week//





	1. Introduction

Heres a rundown of the profiles and powers of each person in the story. Each member also has strength and healing, but those with strength in their power tab have even  _more_ strength then the others!

 

Son Chaeyoung

Age: 18

Job: College Student/Part Time Artist

Power(s): Telekinesis

 

Myoui Minari (Mina) 

Age: 20

Job: Barista at NewPorts Cafe

Power(s): Mind Control/Partial Telekinesis

 

Chou Tzuyu

Age: 18

Job: Waitress at NewPorts Cafe

Power(s): Strength

 

Minatosaki Sana

Age: 20

Job: Waitress at NewPorts Cafe 

Power(s): Invisibility/Super Speed

 

Hirai Momo 

Age: 20

Job: Chef at NewPorts Cafe

Power(s): Super Speed

 

Kim Dahyun: 

Age: 19

Job: Chef at NewPorts Cafe

Power(s): Cloning/Teleportation

 

Yoo Jeongyeon

Age: 21

Job: Manager of NewPorts Cafe

Power(s): Time Travel

 

Im Nayeon: 

Age: 22 

Job: Co-Manager of NewPorts Cafe

Power(s): Controlling Time

 

Park Jihyo

Age: 21

Job: Doing Everyone Else's Jobs

Power(s): Future Sight, Long Distance Sight, Partial Mind Control, Telekinesis, Strength

 

The cafe is a secret gathering place for their friends with powers. (Momo made the name)

 

 

N- Newly 

E- Engineered 

W- Women 

P- Practicing 

O- Our 

R- Really

T- Terrible

S- Superpowers 


	2. The New Cafe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chaeyoung discovers a brand new cafe right next store to her home and decides to check it out.

**Saturday, November 17th 2056 (New York, New York)**

 

Chaeyoung has never seen this cafe before. It looks as though its been here for years, maybe in decades, yet here she is, standing in awe and confusion at the little building. 

 

She decides to stop staring and explore the cafe. 

 

Almost the second she walks into the small resturant, she greeted by a young girl. 

 

"Hello! Welcome to NewPorts Cafe! Are you just one or expecting others?" the tallest girls asks. 

 

Slightly flustered, Chaeyoung responds, "It's just me." 

 

She smiles and points at a table close to the counter labeled "Barista Island." 

 

She almost laughs as she realizing she one of only a dozen other people in this cafe. 

 

The tall girl returns, pad in hand. "My name is Tzuyu and I'll be helping you today. Do you know what you want to drink or would you like a coffee menu?" 

 

"Uh...I'll take a coffee menu, sure," Chaeyoung responds, yet again flustered by the pretty girl. She plays with her hair, smiling. 

 

Tzuyu returns and places two menus in front of Chaeyoung. She smiles shyly, "I forgot to give you the food menu." 

 

She leaves Chaeyoung to look at all of the exotic choices on the menu. Chaeyoung is almost stunned by the fact that they have such amazing looking meals in such a crappy area of New York. 

 

Tzuyu comes back. "Do you know what you want?" 

 

Chaeyoung nods. "I'll take a black coffee and...uh...I can do the sugars and stuff myself. I'll also have a strawberry crepe." 

 

Tzuyu nods, writes it down on her pad, takes Chaeyoung's menus and then walks away. 

 

Chaeyoung is sort of embarrassed to be alone in such a date-like cafe. 

 

She look up from her table to see a young girl yelling at a young man as she walks down the street. She almost smiles as she imagines the girl punching the man straight in the face. She may not hear the conversation, but she knows he deserves it. As if on cue, the girl's hand swings at the man. She can almost here the loud cracking of his jaw and her fist strike his face. 

 

Chaeyoung covers her eyes and quickly diverts her attention to her phone in her lap. She checks her social media, liking several of her family's vacation posts and her idol's tweets. 

 

"Here's your coffee," Tzuyu says, placing the cup in front of Chaeyoung. "You're crepe will be out shortly." 

 

Chaeyoung smiles. "Thank you." 

 

Tzuyu walks away again. Chaeyoung starts to make her coffee. She puts in a couple spoonfuls of sugar and enough milk to bring her cholesterol levels dangerously higher than they already are. 

 

She looks out the window again, noticing a small boy playing with his dog in the park across the street. She smiles as he drops down to cuddle with the dog on the grass below him. She watches as he reattaches the dog's leach and goes to cross the street. Chaeyoung almost screams as she notices the car speeding directly towards the boy and his dog. She closes shut her eyes completely, only to open them after hearing a huge crash.

 

She looks out the window to see the car completely gone and the boy standing in the street in shock. 

 

Confused, she takes a sip of her coffee and pretends like neither of the things had happened before. She had gotten used to this things happening anyways. Chaeyoung seems to bring back luck everywhere she goes, but somehow they always end up being solved some way or another. Sometimes she even thinks that there is some sort of a demon that constantly follows her around, throwing items and making people violent and stupid. 

 

"What's the matter, Miss?" she hears a small voice say. 

 

Chaeyoung looks up to see Tzuyu looking down at her, concerned and crepe in hand. 

 

"Oh...well...its just a weird thing, really," Chaeyoung responds, rubbing her forehead. 

 

Tzuyu places the crepe down on the table and smiles. "I'm willing to listen." 

 

Chaeyoung nods and laughs. "That's a first." 

 

Tzuyu sits down on the chair opposite of Chaeyoung and leans onto her hand. "I'm ready when you are." 

 

"Well, I guess I just bring bad luck where ever I go. Just now, some kid almost got hit by a car, but for some reason the car was no where to be seen when I opened my eyes. Also, some girl just beat up some guy for yelling at her," Chaeyoung sighs. "I feel like whatever I think just sort of happens. Sometimes, I'll come home and I'll be angry because of some college class and go into my bedroom and then back into my kitchen to find all the pots and pans on the floor and the plates all smashed." 

 

Tzuyu sits back in her seat, clearly concerned. Chaeyoung doesn't understand why. Tzuyu's face lightens and she smiles. 

 

"Maybe you just need a couple friends!" Tzuyu exclaims. "Me and my friends own this business and if I see you again, maybe I can call a couple of them out for you to meet. Today most of them are...er...out doing something right now." 

 

Chaeyoung smiles. "That might be what I need, yeah. I guess the loneliness really gets to your head." 

 

Tzuyu nods. "Well, I have to go care for the other costumers." She goes to walk away, but then turns around, smiling. "And don't worry about the bill. Its on the house." 

 

Shocked, Chaeyoung manages a smile. 

 

Quickly, she types a quick note to herself on her phone. 

 

_Make sure to come back to the NewPorts Cafe and find Tzuyu again._

She giggles to herself and takes a big bite of the crepe. It was far beyond the best piece of food Chaeyoung had ever put in her mouth. She finishes the rest of it and her coffee and leaves a fifteen dollar tip on the table with a note to Tzuyu that reads, 

 

_Thanks for the meal, Tzuyu! I'll be seeing you quite often. I love this cute little cafe!_

_-Son Chaeyoung_

_PS: I'd love to treat you (and your friends if you'd like) for a meal to repay the meal you got me._

 

She smiles to herself as she walks up the street to her apartment, wondering the entire time why she trusts Tzuyu so much. 

 

That is, until she bumps into a figure slightly taller than her, light reddish-brown bangs covering her forehead and a cute outfit with a badge on her chest that reads, "Minari."

 

"Oh! I'm so sorry, Miss," Chaeyoung exclaims, completely embarressed. 

 

The girl, who's name seemed to be Minari, smiles shyly, just like Tzuyu had, and responds. "It's completely, okay. I was in a rush and I wasn't looking where I was going." 

 

"Oh, but I wasn't paying attention because I was completely lost in my thoughts," Chaeyoung quickly shoots back. 

 

"Uhmmm..." the girl is blushing. "My name is Mina. Myoui Mina." 

 

Mina. Chaeyoung likes that name. 

 

Chaeyoung holds her hand out for her to shake, "Chaeyoung. Son Chaeyoung." 

 

"It's nice to meet you...Chaeyoung." Mina's face becomes redder.

 

"Uh..." Chaeyoung feels a blush rising on her cheeks. "What has you in such a rush?" 

 

Mina looks up from the ground and at Chaeyoung. "I'm late for work, like usual." 

 

"Well, I don't want to keep you here if you could get fired, so uh...I guess I'll see you around," Chaeyoung responds. 

 

Mina smiles. "I work at the NewPorts Cafe a little bit down the road as a Barista. You should visit sometime." 

 

"Sure." 

 

Mina pushes the hair from her eyes and blushes as she speaks again. She quickly takes a pad from her bag and scribbles numbers on it. She places it in Chaeyoung's hand. 

 

"This is my number," Mina says in practically a whisper. "Feel free to text me or call me any time." 

 

Chaeyoung's eyes widen in surprise. "Oh....uh...thank you, Mina! I'll be sure to visit you when you work and I'll text you when I get the chance." 

 

"I work everyday of the week and the same time everyday, 10AM to 9PM," Mina's blush worsens. "I'd love to see you sometime there, Chaeyoung." 

 

Chaeyoung smiles again. "And I can test whether or not your coffees are any good." 

 

"Yeah. Well...um...I have to go, so make sure to text me!" Mina smiles and gives Chaeyoung a quick and awkward hug. "I'll see you around." 

 

Chaeyoung nods and waves to Mina and she walks quickly down the street. 

 

She looks down at the paper Mina had placed in her hand. 

 

_212-973-9876_

 

Chaeyoung memorizes the numbers almost immediatly, placing it in her phone as "Mina." 

 

She smiles to herself as she walks up the street and enters her small apartment. She almost screams in joy as she places Mina's number on her counter. She runs to her room to place her bag and returns to the kitchen to see the the paper gone. Confused, she searches around the house and finds it on her bed. 

 

"I could've sworn I left it in the kitchen," she grumbles, putting it back onto her kitchen counter and picking her phone up. 

 

Nervously, she texts Mina. 

 

_Chaeyoung: Hi, Mina, its Son Chaeyoung. We bumped into each other not long ago on the street._

 

Only seconds later, Chaeyoung's phone beeps with Mina's response. 

 

_Mina: Hi, Chaeyoung! I'm glad you texted me haha_

 

Chaeyoung smiles as she responds. 

 

_Chaeyoung: I find the cafe you work at so gosh darn cute lol. I'll be sure to pay you and Tzuyu a visit quite often._

 

_Mina: Oh you met Tzuyu! Isn't she the nicest?_

 

_Chaeyoung: Yeah lol shes a really good waiter too_

 

_Mina: Did she tell you that we all own the restaurant together?_

_Mina: We've actually been needing an artist to help us with our graphic appearance and we've been trying to find one. Would you be interested by any chance?_

 

_Chaeyoung: How do you know I'm an art student?_

 

_Mina: Oh_

_Mina: Lucky guess I guess_

 

_Chaeyoung: Creepy guess_

_Chaeyoung: Sure. I've been looking for a job to express my art outside of school, so if you're looking I'm all in._

_Chaeyoung: That is, depending on the pay._

 

_Mina: Funny_

_Mina: Who said you'll be payed?_

_Mina: Kidding. If you really are interested, be sure to stop by tomorrow and Jeongyeon and Nayeon can give you a run-down of what we're expecting._

 

_Chaeyoung: Who are they?_

 

_Mina: Oh! They are the owners of the Cafe._

_Mina: Nayeon is Jeongyeon's girlfriend and since Jeong is the manager, she insisted Nayeon should be co-manager._

 

_Chaeyoung: sighs_

_Chaeyoung: Relationship benefits are so cool_

 

_Mina: Yeah, right?_

 

_Chaeyoung: Like...it would be so cool to date a barista because then you could stop by and get free coffee everyday._

 

_Mina: Are you....flirting with me?_

 

Chaeyoung blushes. 

 

_Chaeyoung: Maybe I am._

 

_Mina: Damn_

_Chaeyoung: shrugs_

_Chaeyoung: I'm just stating facts._

 

_Mina: I bet having an artistic girlfriend would be nice because you'd probably write your girlfriend songs and sing them to her as she falls asleep._

 

_Chaeyoung: Is me being a song writer another lucky guess because that is just creepy omg_

_Chaeyoung: And how do you know I like girls?_

 

_Mina: You flirted with me?_

_Mina: I'm a really good guesser_

 

_Chaeyoung: Oh yeah?_

_Chaeyoung: So what am I thinking about right now?_

 

_Mina: Probably me._

 

_Chaeyoung: WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT SMH_

_Chaeyoung: We just met and I know nothing about you and your pretty face._

 

_Mina: Flirting again? Jeez you must be desperate for me..._

 

_Chaeyoung: WhAt The HecK_

 

_Mina: Stop blushing_

 

_Chaeyoung: HOWD YOU KNOW IM BLUSHING EOIHOIJEIOEMIOEMFG_

 

_Mina: I know all c'mon_

 

_Chaeyoung: You're killing me_

 

_Mina: Good ;)_

 

_Chaeyoung: ok then_

 

_Mina: Welp I gotta go back to work bc its starting to get busy_

_Mina: Text me later?_

 

_Chaeyoung: Sure_

_Chaeyoung: Text me when you're able to ig_

 

_Mina: oki_

_Mina: Byeeee!_

 

Chaeyoung places her phone back onto the counter. 

 

"What a day..." she whispers to herself. 

 


	3. Lucky Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chaeyoung meets with the staff and manager of NewPorts Cafe to discuss whether or not she is eligible for the job.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, all! I'm very happy about this story and I hope you are too! Please go follow my fan acc on twitter, @blinkforonce, which I may be changing soon since I'm a multi-stan account.

**Sunday, November 18th 2056 (New York, New York)**

 

Chaeyoung grips the bag on her shoulder slightly tighter as she follows the familiar roads to NewPorts Cafe. She's very excited for her semi-interview, yet another part of her is even more excited to see Tzuyu and Mina. 

 

Out of her almost two years living in New York by herself, she's never found any people nicer than the two she met yesterday. 

 

_Mina: Hey, Chaeng, are you heading to the cafe yet? We open in like two hours and Nayeon and Jeongyeon wanted the overview over before opening._

 

Chaeyoung sighs and then quickens her pace to more of a fast walk. 

 

_Chaeyoung: Walking there now. I should be there in only a minute or so._

 

_Mina: Is your apartment close?_

 

_Chaeyoung: Yeah._

 

Chaeyoung stops suddenly. Apartment. She never told Mina she lived in an apartment and there was no way she could assume that because right next door to the cafe is a neighborhood with  _actual_ houses. 

 

_Chaeyoung: How do you know I live in an apartment?_

_Chaeyoung: I never told you that._

_Chaeyoung: Are you stalking me?_

 

Her nerves continue to rise as Mina doesn't answer. 

 

_Chaeyoung: Mina?_

_Chaeyoung: Mina answer me!?_

_Chaeyoung: I swear to god Mina how do you know I live in an apartment?_

_Chaeyoung: Myoui Minari!_

 

Chaeyoung quickens her pace again.

 

_Mina: Okay maybe we need to talk._

 

Chaeyoung's heart stops. 

 

_Chaeyoung: Talk about what? We aren't dating or even seeing each other, so if you like someone else I have nothing to do with it._

_Mina: Do you know what NewPorts stands for?_

 

_Chaeyoung: No?_

_Chaeyoung: Why did you ignore what I said before?_

 

_Mina: Do you know anything about the cafe?_

 

_Chaeyoung: No._

_Chaeyoung: Mina, what's wrong?_

 

_Mina: Do you have a secret you never told anyone._

_Mina: Nothing. Just answer my questions._

 

_Chaeyoung: Well, everyone has secrets._

 

_Mina: I mean a big secret. Like superpowers or something._

 

_Chaeyoung: You're crazy. Superpowers aren't real, Mina._

_Chaeyoung: Are you sure there is nothing wrong?_

 

_Mina: Okay. We need to talk._

 

_Chaeyoung: About what? What is this?_

 

_Mina: I'll tell you when you get to the cafe. I already asked Nayeon and Jeongyeon and they said they wouldn't mind it if they have to show you around during hours._

 

Chaeyoung quickly realizes she's about to pass the cafe and quickly stops, almost dropping her phone in the process. 

 

_Chaeyoung: I'm here. You have a lot of explaining to do._

 

_Mina: I know._

 

Chaeyoung turns to face the door, only to see Mina standing there, holding it open for her. 

 

"Oh..." Chaeyoung feels a blush rise on her cheeks. "Hi." 

 

Mina smiles. "Come on in. Its cold out for November." 

 

Chaeyoung nods and follows Mina into the Cafe. 

 

"So what did you need to talk about?" Chaeyoung asks. 

 

Mina turns around to face Chaeyoung. "We can't talk about it here. Follow me." 

 

Hesitantly, Chaeyoung follows Mina behind the Barista stand and into the kitchen. 

 

"No one can hear us here," Mina finally says. 

 

"W-why would they not be able to here us?" Chaeyoung asks, her voice cracking. A million different situations run through her head. Was Mina going to rape her? Seduce her? Kill her? Cut her head off? Chaeyoung begins to feel dizzy. 

 

"That sounds creepy," Mina responds, laughing. Chaeyoung is almost soothed by Mina's laugh. "What I meant to say was, I don't want people to hear what I'm about to say because I'm really not supposed to tell anyone it. You're the exception and Nayeon and Jeongyeon agreed." 

 

"Why is it so important?" Chaeyoung glups. "And why is it so important that _I_ know? I mean, I only yet you yesterday." 

 

"It will change your life a lot," Mina responds in almost a whisper. "Or...at least I think it will." 

 

"H-how do you know?" 

 

"I know everything," Mina frowns. "Unfortunately enough, I know everything that runs through everyone's head. For example, when I just said that no one can hear us here, you doubted why you should trust me." 

 

"Its a lucky guess. You could probably tell by the way I reacted." 

 

"The first thing that ran through your head was whether or not I was going to rape you." 

 

"Another lucky guess. Doesn't everything think about that?" 

 

"Fine," Mina sighs. "You thought I was going to...chop your head off. That's a very odd thing to think, actually." 

 

Chaeyoung's eyes widen. "H-how d-do you know t-that?" 

 

"I already told you that I can read people's minds." 

 

"That's impossible." 

 

"Nothing is impossible if you are the impossible. You really have no clue what happening right now, do you? Unless you have another power that blocks me from reading your thoughts, that is." 

 

"I-I don't have any powers, Mina. This is insane," Chaeyoung runs her hand through her hair. "Is this some sort of a prank?" 

 

"No. I wouldn't lie to you." 

 

"How could I trust that? I just met you yesterday." 

 

Mina huffs. "I can prove it to you if you'd just cooperate." 

 

Chaeyoung nods. "I'll cooperate." 

 

"I want you to think of the most random word you could ever think of." 

 

 _Extraviliousisgulpibus._ Chaeyoung laughs at the word.  _With a cherry on top._

 

"Extraviliousisgulpibus," Mina says, her gaze finding its way down to the floor. "With a cherry on top." 

 

Chaeyoung falls back onto the counter behind her, gripping it nervously. "Y-you just-" 

 

"I know. I just read your mind. I can make you do things too." 

 

Chaeyoung's hand lifts up suddenly and begins to pat her on the head. 

 

"I can control your brain," Mina whispers. "I can hear your thoughts. I can do whatever I'd like except for control nonliving things," Mina's gaze lifts up to Chaeyoung's face, which causes their eyes to connect. "I can't do what you can, though." 

 

Chaeyoung hears a small pot hit the floor which causes her to jump over to Mina grabs her tightly. 

 

Completely flustered and embarressed after she realizes she practically grasping at basically a completely stranger, she finds her way back to the counter she was leaning on. "Sorry I got...uh..." She notices the blush on Mina's cheeks and looses her words. 

 

Another pot falls, but this time, Chaeyoung is too lost in thoughts to even hear it.

 

"Um..." Mina looks up at Chaeyoung and that quickly looks back down at the floor. "So...uh...you..." 

 

"Sorry," Chaeyoung repeats, trying hard to hide her face so Mina couldn't see her blushing as well. "I get scared easily." 

 

Mina lifts her head up finally, but then she looks back to the ground. "Its perfectly okay...its just that..." Chaeyoung notices the tears welling up in Mina's eyes. "...its just that...you might not think about it the way I do." 

 

Chaeyoung lifts herself off of the counter and walks slightly closer to Mina. "You can read my mind, can't you?" 

 

Mina nods. 

 

"So then how can you doubt how I think?" 

 

Mina looks up at Chaeyoung. "I don't know. I just don't want to hear your thoughts." 

 

"But why?" 

 

Tears run down Mina's cheeks. "I don't want to know how much of a freak you think I am." 

 

Chaeyoung freezes.  _She thinks I think she's a freak?_

 

"I don't think you're a freak, Mina," Chaeyoung whimpers, pulling Mina into a hug. "I think that you're a wonderful person and even though I haven't spent much time with you yet, I enjoy your company and I'd love to spend more time with you." 

 

She hears Mina's muffled laugh. 

 

"You're so kind for a someone with telekinesis," Mina giggles. "You'd think that you would use your powers to steal money or something." 

 

Chaeyoung pulls away from the hug, startled. "P-powers? Me? I have powers?" 

 

Mina's face becomes serious. "Right. You _actually_ don't know."

 

"W-wait...how can I have powers and not know it?" 

 

"I'm not quite sure, actually, but you just must have almost complete control and I guess you haven't experienced anything odd." 

 

"Well...I just thought there was a demon or an angel or something that decided to follow me and have people do things and to demolish my apartment." 

 

"I can't even like...process the fact that you had no clue. I mean, how did you not think 'Oh hey my entire apartment is in flames for the third time today, I must have something to do with it.' I mean are your powers that calm?" 

 

Chaeyoung laughs. "Well, once in my senior year of high school a couple years ago, my teacher was handing back tests, which I had completely bombed. Right after she handed me the test, she ran out the door and has been missing ever since. Half the class didn't even figure out what they got." 

 

"Oh, you're a second year in college?" Mina asks, clearly intrigued. 

 

"Yeah, why? I'm studying art-" 

 

"Four years," Mina nods approvingly. "So you're eighteen?" 

 

Chaeyoung nods. "I turn nineteen in about six months." 

 

"Oh, well, happy very late nineteenth birthday, then," Mina laughs. "April twenty-third is a very fun date to have a birthday." 

 

Chaeyoung is shocked for a moment, but then remembers Mina's powers. 

 

"This will take some getting used to," Chaeyoung grumbles. "You know what I'm thinking before I even think it." 

 

Mina laughs. "Wait until you meet the others. Momo and Jihyo-" she quickly stops speaking. "I-I mean..." her shoulder slump down in defeat. "Yes, Chaeyoung. There are others. I was going to let Jeongyeon and Nayeon explain it, but I guess I'll have to call them in before I finish. No they aren't married and yes they are both girls." 

 

Chaeyoung is shocked again by Mina's powers. 

 

 

Mina immediately begins blushing again. "W-well...you see...er...I had heard that you thought Tzuyu was cute when we had first met, which was why I was so willing on meeting you. You see, Tzuyu is taken." 

 

Chaeyoung nods. "Its okay. I only thought she was cute as a friend, not a future partner." 

 

Mina smiles. "Well, I know that...I was just trying to, you know, open up to you a bit, but you've ruined what I was going to say." 

 

"O-oh...uh...just continue what you were saying and pretend like I never said anything." 

 

Mina laughs. "Okay. Well, Tzuyu and most of the others are dating each other. They've been together for a while and since Jihyo refuses to date, I'm stuck with dating a new person..." Mina smiles and her eyes light up as they connect to Chaeyoung's. Almost immediately following, Mina gets flustered and looks down at the floor. "...er...what I'm trying to say...or ask...is if..." Mina manages to connect eyes with Chaeyoung's. "...is if you'd want to maybe...go on a date with me sometime. I heard about a really nice boardwalk up in New Jersey that's about an hour away and I've been meaning to check it out, but I don't want to go alone. We could even stay there overnight if you don't want to have to worry about driving back to New York late at night." 

 

Chaeyoung smiles. "When would you want to go?" 

 

Surprised, Mina responds, "I was hoping it would be a weekend trip, so I'd pick you up on Friday, but its okay if you don't want to go for more than one day..." Mina frowns. "...since you don't know me basically at all." 

 

Chaeyoung puts her hand on Mina's shoulder. "But I want to get to know you, so its a date...er...a three day date." 

 

Mina laughs. "Three dates? You really consider it three dates?" 

 

"Well, I'll be seeing you for three days straight and since people usually consider one dinner as a date and we'd probably be going out every meal, it would  _technically_ be nine dates." 

 

Mina's face turns bright red. "O-oh," is all she manages to say. "W-well...I should get us a hotel room, then." 

 

Chaeyoung smiles as Mina takes her phone out of pocket and dials a number. 

 

"Hello?" Mina says. "Oh...hi. I'd like to book a two bed room for Friday night until Sunday morning. Uh...no the size of the beds don't matter. Okay...when's check-in? Okay...okay...thank you...bye," Mina places her phone in her back pocket and then turns to Chaeyoung, smiling. "We're booked for the weekend." 

 

"Who's booked for what?" a voice booms from Chaeyoung, startling both of the girls. 

 

In full defense mode, Chaeyoung turns around to face the voice. As a reaction she turns towards Mina, who currently was also in a defense position, her eyes bright blue and hands glowing. Mina notices who it is and all of the blue goes away. 

 

"Wow. You guys are wusses," the girl laughs. She has short, blonde hair, and is wearing jeans and a red flannel. "Names Jeongyeon. I own this restaurant with my girlfriend Nayeon, who will be joining us shortly," she holds out her hand, which Chaeyoung shakes.

 

Embarrassed, she point to Chaeyoung. "Oh, hi Jeongie. This is Son Chaeyoung. She's the one I was talking to you and Nayeon about this morning."

 

"So, you have telekinesis, eh? What's it like?" Jeongyeon asks, putting her hands in her pockets. 

 

"W-well, I didn't actually know about these powers until today, so I really don't know. I've just sort of experienced my accidental power stuff." 

 

Jeongyeon nods. "Did you explain to her what the hell that was that you just did?" 

 

Mina blushes. "I only explained to her about the things with reading and controlling minds." 

 

Jeongyeon nods again. "Mina is very unique. She originally had telekinesis, just like you, but it was simple things like lifting up a pencil, not breaking metal or stopping a car. Eventually, she began to loose that ability and instead, she has mind powers now. With that, though, she also had mind manipulation. Mind reading and mind manipulation sound like basically the same thing, but trust me, its not. Mina has an odd ability to generate electric waves that can control a person until their body is burned. She can't take control after they die, just before, which is the oddest of them all." 

 

Even though she's confused, Chaeyoung nods. "So Mina can control people momentarily and also permanently?" 

 

Mina nods. "I can also generate electric waves that only does things to the brain, not the body." 

 

"But what was the blue eye thingy going on?" 

 

Mina shrugs. "It just happens when I go on full defensive mode." 

 

"Were you like...as powerful as you could get?" 

 

"I got nervous that someone heard our conversation about your powers and mine, so yeah, I was ready to kill Jeongyeon." 

 

Chaeyoung is surprised to see Jeongyeon completely unphased by what Mina had just said. 

 

"You don't even care, Jeongyeon?" Chaeyoung asks, her mouth open agape. "You could've died!" 

 

Jeongyeon shakes her head. "I don't die for two decades or so. I went through every possibility that could ever happen, which I'll let you know was over trillions of situations, and in all of them, I die in twenty years at the minimum." 

 

"And you aren't scared to know when you die?" Chaeyoung asks. "You aren't scared at all?" 

 

Jeongyeon shrugs. "I'm used to seeing how people die. I travel through time all the time. Nayeon is the future sight, which isn't always reliable since things are always changing. I've seen everyone die, even Mina, Nayeon, Tzuyu, and all my other friends." 

 

Chaeyoung feels a chill run up her spine. "And you're okay with it?" 

 

"I can just change it," Jeongyeon sighs. "...like I always do. I don't really travel anymore nowadays, though. I just like living in the moment and I don't do anything that will change the future." 

 

Chaeyoung smiles. "So you just sort of threw away your powers?" 

 

"And labeled them 'For emergency purposes only' with a lock and everything," Jeongyeon responds. She points to Mina. "On the other hand, Mina is really important to us when it comes to NewPorts. It helps us a lot with solving a lot of big things." 

 

"What big things?" 

 

"Missions and stuff. You think us powered just sit on our couches doing nothing all day?" 

 

"W-well, that's what I do!" 

 

"Because you didn't know you had powers. In fact, can you demonstrate them for me?"

 

"After you explain to me what missions you're talking about."

 

"Well, ah...I think I'll need Nayeon for this," Jeongyeon says, sighing. "When she comes here, I'll explain everything, okay?" 

 

Chaeyoung looks over at Mina. Mina nods. 

 

Chaeyoung turns back to Jeongyeon and nods. "I'll try my best to show you them, but I'm not sure how." 

 

Jeongyeon looks at Mina and nods her head towards Chaeyoung. 

 

"O-oh...sorry, yeah I'll help her," Mina stutters and moves closer to Chaeyoung. "Well, basically you just have to imagine a pot moving or...you know...Jeongyeon floating." 

 

"Its that easy?" Chaeyoung asks. "Wouldn't I have noticed if it was that easy?" 

 

Mina bites her lip. "Maybe also make sure to use your hand. Point it at what you want to move." 

 

Chaeyoung nods. She opens her hand up slightly and points it at Jeongyeon. She isn't really sure what to really do, so she pictures Jeongyeon hovering over the ground. At that moment, Jeongyeon lifts up a couple inches from the ground. Chaeyoung begins to panic, which causes Jeongyeon's completely still body to begin to shake slightly, following her hand. 

 

Mina quickly places her body against Chaeyoung, grabbing onto her arm. 

 

"Calm down," she whispers into Chaeyoung ear. "If you shake, you could really hurt Jeong." 

 

Chaeyoung gulps and feels the blush arise on her cheeks as Mina's voice continues to ring throughout her head. 

 

Very gradually, her hands stop shaking and Jeongyeon stands still in the air. 

 

Mina stays in her position, holding Chaeyoung and her arm tightly. 

 

"Now, move your arm slowly so that she'll move with it," Mina whispers. "And make sure you don't move it too quickly or you'll throw her." 

 

Chaeyoung nods and begins to move her arm very very slowly left and right. Jeongyeon's body follows it.

 

"Now put her back on the ground," Mina whispers, her face even closer to Chaeyoung's face then it was before. Mina leans her head on Chaeyoung's shoulder. It was a perfect fit and Mina's chin is perfectly comfortable. "And not to fast or far or you'll break her ankles when placing her down." 

 

Chaeyoung smiles, but keeps herself focused on Jeongyeon despite her distraction. Chaeyoung moves her hand very slowly, watching carefully for Jeongyeon's feet to touch the ground. Chaeyoung doesn't move her arm, afraid of hurting Jeongyeon. 

 

"Ok, Chaengie, so now just disconnect your focus from Jeongyeon and put your mind on something else," Mina says, the arm that was placed on Chaeyoung's hip squeezing her slightly. 

 

Chaeyoung's mind immediately finds its way to kissing Mina. She isn't sure why, but she finds herself longing to just turn her head to the right and for her lips to touch her's. She knows Mina was listening to what she decided to turn to after her grip on Chaeyoung's hip tightens even more. 

 

"Y-" Mina begins, but stops herself. Mina's grip on Chaeyoung completely releases and Mina wraps that arms around Chaeyoung's waist. Chaeyoung quickly brings down her arm. 

 

"You were in my mind weren't you?" Chaeyoung whispers, turning her head slightly towards Mina. 

 

Mina places her forehead on the back of Chaeyoung's neck. Chaeyoung can feel Mina nodding softly. 

 

"Are you mad?" 

 

Mina shakes her head. 

 

"So then why aren't you talking?" 

 

She hears Mina gulp. 

 

"You can talk to me, Mina. I'm sorry if you don't really agree with me. I know we've only know each other for a very little bit of time, so its okay to be mad." 

 

Mina shakes her head again. 

 

Chaeyoung places her hands on Mina's. "If you aren't mad, then why aren't you talking?" 

 

"I'm embarrassed," Mina whimpers, her voice cracking. "I was trying to see what you like, which was why I was in your mind, but I wasn't expecting you to think about...that." 

 

Chaeyoung laughs to herself lightly, lacing her fingers through Mina's. "I'm glad I embarrassed you, Mina." 

 

"W-why?" 

 

"Because now I know that you want it too." 

 

"T-too?" 

 

"You clearly know I want to kiss you. I don't know much about you, but I know that you asked me on a date, which means you clearly like me, which means you want to kiss me. I also know that you were in my mind and can't even pretend that you didn't know what I was thinking." 

 

Chaeyoung lets go of Mina's hand and turns around to face her. 

 

"Maybe...after your shift, would you like to go out to see a movie with me tonight? I don't have any early classes tomorrow, so I can stay up late," Chaeyoung says. "We could even go out to shop, if you'd like. I'm okay with anything as long as you're there." 

 

Mina blushes. "I think a movie is fine." 

 

Chaeyoung smiles, pulling Mina into a hug. "I'll pick out one I think you'll like, that way if you hate it, I'll learn something new about you." 

 

"Why are you so eager to be with me even after you know how dangerous I am?" Mina asks.

 

Chaeyoung takes Mina's hand and laces her fingers through it. "Because even though we've only just met, I still trust that you won't hurt me. At least, on purpose you won't. I would forgive you if it was on accident." 

 

"You're so stupid, honestly. You trust me with your life even though we've only just met." 

 

"I  _know_ you won't hurt me because  _you're_ the one who was concerned about me having powers.  _You're_ the one that offered me a job at this little cafe.  _You're_ the one that asked  _me_ on a date." 

 

Mina giggles, her tiny laugh sending chills up Chaeyoung spine. "You really are something, Chaengie," she smiles and pokes Chaeyoung's nose. "Which is exactly why I want to know everything about you." 

 

"Don't you already know everything?" 

 

Mina shakes her head. "I know what I want to know and what you are thinking about when I'm in your mind." 

 

Chaeyoung smiles, making sure to think about kissing Mina again. 

 

Mina's face turns red and she hits Chaeyoung playfully on the shoulder.

 

"Maybe I should stop doing that if you're going to use it as a weakness," Mina mutters. "You can get me flustered so easily. It's not fair, honestly." 

 

"Oh quit flirting, Mina. Save it for our date tonight." 

 

Just then, the kitchen doors open. A girl walks through. She has long light brown hair, thick lips, and she wore a black skirt with a green long sleeve shirt. 

 

"Hi, Nayeon," Mina says, quickly turning towards her. "This is Chaeyoung. The one with telekinesis." 

 

Nayeon nods and turns towards Chaeyoung, smiling. "I'm Im Nayeon. I'm technically Mina's boss, though, I really won't ever fire her, just give her raises. She said that you were interested in helping us decorate the Cafe. We need to make sure it doesn't seem like the meeting place of nine women with abilities no one would understand. We all need jobs and we figured its best if the supers stuck together." 

 

Chaeyoung smiles. "And am I one of the superheroes that should stick with you all?" 

 

"Any friend of Mina's is a friend of mine," Nayeon says, nodding. 

 

"How'd you know I was Mina's friend?" Chaeyoung asks. "Can you read minds too?" 

 

Nayeon shakes her head. "Mina is the only one that can do that. She told me you were her friend right now with her ability," Nayeon laughs. "You have quite a lot to learn about Mina and the rest of us." 

 

Mina chimes in, "And each of us have unique abilities and some of us have really funny stories about how we dealt with our powers in the earlier days." 

 

Chaeyoung nods. "So...then if everyone has powers, does that mean that Tzuyu also has powers?" 

 

Jeongyeon joins everyone and kissing Nayeon on the cheek. 

 

"Tzuyu is very quiet and very humble and you'd be surprised with her power," Mina responds. 

 

"We call her 'The Defender' because she's literally the strongest out of all of us," Nayeon adds. 

 

"She has super strength," Jeongyeon says. "It took a lot of practice for her to be able to hold  _anything_ without crumbling it to pieces." 

 

Chaeyoung's mouth opens again in surprise. 

 

"So, basically," Jeongyeon continues. "If you join our crew, you'd literally have no limitations with how late you can be, pay will be awesome, and we'll help you will dealing with your powers and figuring out how to work them."

 

"So basically...there's no bad parts of it?" Chaeyoung jokes. 

 

Jeongyeon nods. "Except for the fact that you'll actually have to work, though. Since you're just the designer, you really don't have any set time, but if you'd like you could also assist Mina with making drinks, or Momo and Dahyun with cooking, or you could help the rest of the girls with serving food for extra pay." 

 

Chaeyoung smiles. "That sounds...completely perfect for a job." 

 

"So are you in?" Nayeon asks. 

 

Chaeyoung nods. "I'm one hundred percent in." 

 

Nayeon smiles. "I guess you can start whenever you'd like. Mina already gave us your number, so Jeongyeon will text you right now to make sure its the right one." 

 

Chaeyoung phone dings. 

 

_917-878-4523: Hi_

 

Chaeyoung adds the contact and names it 'Jeongyeon.' 

 

"Ok. I have it," Chaeyoung says. "Do I have to do some special thing when I come in or...?"

 

"Yeah," Nayeon responds. "Mina can show you on your first day. Its very simple actually. We'll add your contact to it by the end of today, so you can start tomorrow if you'd like." 

 

Chaeyoung smiles. "Thank you guys so much. I'm super excited to start!" 

 

Nayeon and Jeongyeon both smile. 

 

"Well, we need to open the doors to the resturant because we open in like ten minutes, so we'll see you around," Jeongyeon says. She hold her hand out, which Chaeyoung shakes. 

 

Nayeon gives Chaeyoung a quick hug. 

 

They leave Mina and Chaeyoung in the kitchen alone. 

 

"So...are you going to go or will you stay and just stare at me from behind the Barista stand?" Mina asks, laughing. 

 

Chaeyoung laughs back. "I'll probably go, yeah. I'll text you when I get home and you'll need to tell me when you're heading home so I can pick you up." 

 

"What about if I just come back to you apartment and we can go from there?" 

 

"Don't you want to change? I can give you some clothes if you want." 

 

Mina smiles. "Wow. Already sharing clothes, are we?" 

 

Chaeyoung blushes. "I was just being nice." 

 

"You're cute when you're nice." 

 

"Oh shut up." 

 

Mina giggles and pulls Chaeyoung into a hug. "I should start getting ready for costumers." 

 

Chaeyoung nods and hugs Mina tighter. 

 

"I'll miss you," Mina whispers. 

 

"You flirt," Chaeyoung giggles. "I'm gonna go now." 

 

"Text me when you get home, so I know you're okay." 

 

"How about I call you?" 

 

"Sure. I'll probably miss your voice." 

 

"Oh shut up." 

 

"But its cute." 

 

Chaeyoung blushes again. "Okay I'm going now or I'll never leave." 

 

Mina waves. 

 

Chaeyoung walks out of the door and out of the cafe, turning back towards it to see Mina waving from the glass doorway. Giggling, Chaeyoung takes out her phone and texts Mina. 

 

_Chaeyoung: I miss you already._

 

She sees Mina get scared by the buzzing of her phone and she sees her smile as she reads the message. 

 

_Mina: Stop flirting with me and go home. I need to get to work._

 

_Chaeyoung: Okok_

_Chaeyoung: Do a little dance in the doorway and then I'll go._

 

Chaeyoung looks up from her phone to see Mina laughing at her text. Mina looks up and does a little dance, which is hilariously horrible. Mina takes her phone out. 

 

_Mina: I'm leaving the window so now you'll just look stupid._

 

Chaeyoung looks back up to see Mina gone. 

 

_Chaeyoung: Okay. See you tonight._

 

_Mina: See you tonight._


	4. The Gods Above Us

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mina and Chaeyoung go on their first date to the movies. They are met with a very dangerous and wanted person and Mina is forced to explain everything.

**Sunday, November 18th 2056 (New York)**

 

_Chaeyoung: I just realized that Nayeon and Jeongyeon never explained what the missions were_

 

Chaeyoung sighs to herself as she dries her soaking wet hair. She finds it so stupid that she could've been oblivious enough to miss her own superpowers for her almost nineteen years of living. 

 

Her phone dings. 

 

_Mina: I can't explain this on text_

_Mina: I'll call you_

 

Chaeyoung smiles as Mina's request to call her pops up on her screen. 

 

"Hi," Chaeyoung says. 

 

"Hi," Mina responds. 

 

"Why'd you need to call me to answer my question?" Chaeyoung asks, sitting on her bed. 

 

"I just don't want a written record of it. Calling you can still be tracked, so don't say anything that you wouldn't say to a normal person." 

 

Chaeyoung nods to herself. "So then do you want to just explain this to me before we go to the movies? I can just pick you up earlier." 

 

Mina is silent for a second before responding. "Sure. I think I'm going to run home before coming to your house because I just realized I need something from my house. Is is okay if I come over at five?" 

 

"Yeah its fine." 

 

"Cool. I'll leave now then." 

 

Chaeyoung looks over at a nearby clock on her wall. It reads 4:28pm. 

 

"And don't think you need to hurry because I just got out of the shower and I'm not ready," Chaeyoung giggles. "Which reminds me, do you know what I'm thinking from all the way over there?" 

 

Mina laughs lightly. "Yeah. I can choose certain people that I can be connected to whenever I'd like. I shouldn't have said that, though..." Mina sighs. "We're on the phone. I know I'm a lucky guesser, babe. You don't need to always asks these sort of things." 

 

"W-what?" 

 

"Come on, Chaeyoung, I need you to understand how it makes me feel." 

 

"Mina, I'm so confused." 

 

Mina is silent for a moment and then finally speaks. "There was someone listening on our line. You're a terrible actor." 

 

"L-listening?" 

 

"Yeah. Now someone knows where to find two superhumans. Great."

 

"So are you calling off the date?" Chaeyoung asks, making it clear how upset she would be. 

 

"No. They have our locations, which means if I leave you alone, you could be targeted." 

 

"Targeted? Why me?" 

 

"Well, now I know no one is on the line, so I'll explain a few things," Mina sighs. "There are two groups of supers, the good and the bad. We're the good guys. The guy that was on with us is planning to kill all nine of us in NewPorts in order to be able to take over the world. Basic drama movie stuff, honestly." 

 

"But why are they targeting me? What did  _I_ do?" 

 

Mina laughs. "You didn't  _do_ anything. They just couldn't get to you before we did and now they're planning on killing you." 

 

"But then isn't going on a date more dangerous if he's sure to come and get us?" 

 

"No. I'm not letting you stay home alone without even knowing how to use your powers. If he comes for you first, which he probably will, you'd be dead meat." 

 

"Couldn't I just stab him?" 

 

"Chaeyoung, he's a superhuman. This specific one is a shapeshifter, which means we can't trust anyone until we know he's dead." 

 

"Dead?" Chaeyoung's voice cracks. "You're going to kill him?" 

 

"Its either kill or get killed." 

 

"Can't you just catch him and put him in some prison?" 

 

"No prison could contain him." 

 

"But all he can do is shapeshift!" 

 

"That's not all he can do. He also has super strength even more powerful than Tzuyu, which means a knife probably won't even go through his skin." 

 

Chaeyoung sighs. "So much for a normal date, then." 

 

"It can still be a normal date, Chaengie. He's definitely not going to go for us in public, so as long as we don't take any empty routes, we'll be fine." 

 

Chaeyoung nods. "Okay." 

 

"You trust me right?" Mina's voice almost seems hurt. 

 

"I trust you," Chaeyoung responds. "You're the only one that knows what is going on, so I sort of don't have a choice." 

 

Mina laughs. "I just got home, so I'll be at your apartment in...fifteen minutes." 

 

"How do you even know where I...oh wait...powers. Right. I keep forgetting you can read my mind constantly. Does that mean you can see what I'm dreaming about?" 

 

She can almost feel Mina's smile through the phone. "Yeah." 

 

"D-did you...last night?" 

 

"No." 

 

"Another question." 

 

"Shoot it at me." 

 

"Can you see what I'm seeing?" 

 

"What?" 

 

"Like...since you can control minds, could you tap into my brain and see what I'm seeing. For example, if I were to be at a concert and you couldn't make it, could you see the concert through my mind?" 

 

"Oh!" Mina laughs. "Yeah." 

 

Chaeyoung blushes. "Do you ever do that?" 

 

"Not really. It makes me vulnerable to anyone that chooses to attack me while I'm in someone else's head." 

 

"Creepy." 

 

"Don't think I'm going to do it to you," Mina giggles. "I'm not constantly stalking people's minds." 

 

"Well, whenever I've seen you or talked to you, you seem to always know what I'm thinking." 

 

"I'm just checking you aren't secretly a bad guy, that's all." 

 

Chaeyoung laughs. "And is that why you tapped into my mind after you asked me to think about something besides lifting Jeongyeon?" 

 

"O-ok...so maybe I did that for fun, but-" 

 

"Oh come on, don't spoil the fun. I'm okay with you being in my mind as long as you don't judge what I think about." 

 

She can yet again feel Mina's smile through her phone. "You truly are stupid, Chaeyoung. What normal person would be okay with someone being in their mind constantly?" 

 

"Well, I'm not normal and you said that yourself this morning." 

 

"Okay, so maybe we aren't normal, but that's for very different reasons." 

 

"I have my reasons." 

 

"Yeah, stupid reasons." 

 

Chaeyoung laughs. "If you are just going to bully me, maybe I should just cancel the date." 

 

"No!" Mina clears her throat. "I mean...the destroyer could try to kill you and I'd feel horrible if you weren't protected." 

 

"Sure you do." 

 

Mina laughs. "I'm starting to think you can read my mind." 

 

"Maybe I can," Chaeyoung shrugs to herself. "You never know what secrets people can be hiding." 

 

"Well, I know the secret you are hiding as long as you think of them when I'm around you." 

 

Chaeyoung grunts to herself. "Cheater." 

 

"No, I'm just taking advantage of what I was given." 

 

"Whatever, loser," Chaeyoung giggles. "I need to start getting ready now. I've been on the phone with you for longer than ten minutes and its almost five." 

 

"Yeah." 

 

"Are you going to hang up?" 

 

"No. You are." 

 

"Oh. Goodbye then I guess." 

 

"Yeah. Bye." 

 

Chaeyoung can't get herself to hang up the phone. 

 

"Can't you just do it?" Chaeyoung mutters. 

 

"No. I couldn't hang up on you." 

 

"B-but I can either." 

 

She hears Mina sigh. "I'm not going to be the one in the relationship that hangs up. That's for the top." 

 

"T-top? You think I'm top?" 

 

"No I think you're an idiot who won't hang up." 

 

Chaeyoung laughs. "You hang up then if you want to get off the phone so bad." 

 

Mina huffs. "Fine. I need to charge my phone anyways." 

 

"Ok. Bye, Mina!" 

 

"Bye, Chaengie. See you in a bit." 

 

She takes the phone off of her ear and places her phone of her charger. 

 

Chaeyoung runs to her bedroom and frantically looks through her closet to find something decent to wear. She smiles, noticing the date outfit she's been wanting to wear for forever. It's a black one piece that has roses all over it. She quickly puts it on and runs to her bathroom. She combs her hair through, happy that its short enough so that she doesn't have a ton of knots like Mina probably does.

 

After she's finished getting ready, she goes over to her phone to see a notification of a text from Mina. 

 

_Mina: Leaving to come to your apartment now. Be there in 5._

 

The message was sent three minutes ago. 

 

Chaeyoung begins to panic. Was her apartment clean? She takes a quick jog around her apartment, picking up and moving random things. 

 

She's startled by the soft knock on her front door. 

 

Chaeyoung runs over to the door and open it.

 

She's greeted by a tight hug from Mina. 

 

"Hi," Mina says. "It was weird to talk to you on the phone and not be able to see your face." 

 

"Hello to you as well," Chaeyoung responds, giggling slightly. "I could imagine you talking to me, so it wasn't weird at all." 

 

Mina lets go of Chaeyoung and makes her way into Chaeyoung's apartment. 

 

"It's so cute," Mina says. 

 

"My apartment? Yeah." 

 

Mina turns to Chaeyoung, smiling. "I meant your outfit, Chaengie." 

 

"O-oh," Chaeyoung blushes. "You look cute too." 

 

Mina laughs. "Oh...quit flirting with me." 

 

"So...uh..." Chaeyoung's face falls. Mina notices immediately. 

 

"Right. I need to explain some stuff to you." 

 

Chaeyoung nods and sits down on the couch. Mina plops herself next to her. 

 

"I have a question," Chaeyoung says. 

 

"And I might have an answer." 

 

"Are the missions...like...do they involve fighting and stuff?" 

 

Mina nods. "Most of the time its to eliminate certain people from the destroyers." 

 

"Who are the destroyers?" 

 

"Bad guys." 

 

"Oh." 

 

"We haven't ever lost anyone on our side in battle, which is why they are so intimidated by us." 

 

"Do you all go on missions together?" 

 

Mina shakes her head. "Normally we only go one at a time or only with two people." 

 

"Are there...like...partners? Will I have to go with someone?" 

 

"Most likely, you'll have to come as backup eventually, but we don't have set partners. I usually end up going to most of them, though." 

 

"Are you one of the most powerful?" 

 

"I think so. I usually get sent with either Tzuyu or Momo." 

 

Chaeyoung sighs. "Its so weird to imagine you fighting a bunch of buff guys." 

 

Mina laughs. "They aren't all buff guys with superpowers, don't worry. In fact, most of them are just normal guys that were hired by the Emperor." 

 

"Why would people want to work for a guy that is trying to...oh they want to have power too." 

 

"Yeah." 

 

"So...why do you guys even have the mission?" 

 

Mina gulps. "Well...there is this crystal that you've probably never heard of. It is called the 'Rominus Blu,' but we all call it the power crystal. Our sides have been fighting over it for years and it just so happens that both of us have half of it and are fighting for the other side." 

 

"Why do you want it so bad, though? What's so special about it?" 

 

"We want it to make sure that it can't be used to take over the world and they want it for the opposite." 

 

"But how can a crystal take over a world?" 

 

"It isn't the crystal, but what the crystal does. When both of the sides are connected, the user can unlock any power they want, which basically makes them the most powerful being alive. Obviously, we don't want the destroyers to get it because they'd use it to take over the world." 

 

"But what would you do with it?" 

 

"We'd keep it safe or maybe even destroy it." 

 

The girls sit in silence for a couple minutes. 

 

Finally, Mina clears her throat. 

 

"Well," Mina says. "The reason why I insisted on staying with you is because...Emperor has plans to find a telekinetic bride and he'd give her the crystal."

 

"So..." Chaeyoung's face falls. "Me?" 

 

Mina's eyes begin to tear up. "I thought telekinesis was a myth ever since I lost the little of it I had, but then you showed up...and now I know that we really need to keep up our game. It isn't just okay to let someone get hurt during battle and it isn't okay to let a destroyer escape now. Now that I know how sweet you are and how much I care about you, I can't just let him steal you away and force him to take over the world." 

 

"I would need to be willing though," Chaeyoung mutters. "And I'm not willing." 

 

"He has a way with words." 

 

Silence falls between the girls again. 

 

Chaeyoung leans her head on Mina's shoulder. 

 

"It's almost five thirty," Chaeyoung finally says. "We should head out if we want to make the movie." 

 

Mina smiles and puts her arm around Chaeyoung. "Which movie did you choose?" 

 

"Oh I've been wanting to see this one since the trailer came out. It's called 'Gods Above Us.'" 

 

"Is it that one about the mythological gods?" 

 

Chaeyoung nods. "Yeah. I've been wanting to see it for a while." 

 

Mina nods. 

 

Chaeyoung frowns. "You don't look happy about my choice." 

 

"No...its just...you wouldn't understand." 

 

Chaeyoung takes a breath in and then laces her finger through Mina's. 

 

"If you aren't going to enjoy the movie, then we can do something else. I won't have fun unless you are." 

 

Mina smiles. "No. I want to see the movie with you. It's not that I won't have fun it's just..." Mina looks down at the ground. "I'm not sure." 

 

"Does the fact that you have powers have anything to do with it?" 

 

Mina looks back up at Chaeyoung. "Technically." 

 

"Well...I'm willing to listen, Mina." 

 

"Well, its just that I'm nervous about the destroyer that is coming. I've never killed one in front of someone and the thought of killing him in front of you..." Mina gaze trails off onto the floor again. 

 

"So it doesn't have anything to do with the movie then?" 

 

Mina laughs. "No. I've been wanting to see it too." 

 

"Uh...I...I...uh...you don't need to w-worry about me being there with you. You need to do what you need to do." 

 

"But I'm afraid you won't see me the same way." 

 

Chaeyoung pauses for a moment, thinking up a response. 

 

"Why are you so confused?" Mina asks, squeezing Chaeyoung's hand. "Your thoughts are everywhere." 

 

Chaeyoung sighs. "I just...I don't understand how someone as beautiful as you could struggle to trust how people see you." 

 

"B-beautiful as m-me?" Mina's voice cracks. 

 

"Didn't you tell me like...not even ten minutes ago that I'd have to do the exact thing once I'm ready?" 

 

"Well, yeah." 

 

"So why would I judge you for something that is clearly what I'm destined to do?" 

 

"I-I didn't think about it that way." 

 

Chaeyoung shrugs. "You can't always use other people's thought to piece together your's." 

 

Chaeyoung smiles and turns connects her eyes with Mina's. Mina freezes. 

 

"What?" Chaeyoung asks, concerned. "What's wrong?" 

 

Mina turns nervously towards the ground. "Y-your thoughts..." Mina's voice trails off. 

 

"My thoughts? What about them?" 

 

"Y-you...why won't you stop thinking about me?" 

 

"What?" 

 

"You are so cooped up on me that I can't even find your thoughts on the situation." 

 

Chaeyoung laughs. "I can't help it. I'm nervous...and also we should get going or we'll miss the movie." 

 

Chaeyoung releases Mina's hand, only for Mina to take in into her's again. 

 

"I want to hold your hand when we walk," Mina says calmly. "That way, if someone tries to get us...I'll have you as close as possible." 

 

"Are you sure it isn't just an excuse to hold my hand?" Chaeyoung giggles, pulling Mina off the couch.

 

Mina blushes. "Oh shut up." 

 

"So its a yes." 

 

"Maybe." 

 

Chaeyoung laughs. "I need to grab my phone and my bag. They're in my room, so I'll be right back." 

 

Chaeyoung goes to remove her hand from Mina's, but she doesn't budge. 

 

"Can I come?" Mina asks. "I don't want you to leave my sight. Just in case." 

 

Chaeyoung sighs. "Why are you so nervous about this dude? You've taken down like...a million others, so what's different about this one?" 

 

"They could hurt you," Mina replies, her voice stern. "I've never been nervous about any of the girls getting hurt because they know how to use their powers, but you...you don't." 

 

"Well..." Chaeyoung lifts her open hand up to face Mina. "I can always try." 

 

Mina lifts up from the ground. Chaeyoung smiles and then places Mina back on the ground. 

 

"I practiced a bit while I was in the shower," Chaeyoung says shyly. 

 

Mina smiles. "So you can make stuff hover?" 

 

"I...also learned how to throw. Well...I learned how to throw a shampoo bottle at least." 

 

Mina laughs. "Ok...so I guess that a bit more comforting." 

 

"Now let me get my stuff please?" 

 

Mina shakes her head. "I'm coming with you."

 

Chaeyoung sighs and pulls Mina threw the small hallway and into her bedroom. 

 

"I didn't clean it," Chaeyoung says, blushing. "I didn't think you'd come in here." 

 

Mina laughs shyly. 

 

Chaeyoung quickly grabs her phone from the charger and her bag from her bed, trying her best not to pull on Mina's arm to hard. 

 

"Ok...I think I have everything," Chaeyoung whispers to herself, nodding. She turns towards Mina. "How do I look?" 

 

Mina blushes. "Perfect. Adorable. Cute. Beautiful. Shall I continue?" 

 

"No," Chaeyoung blushes as well. "It's fine." 

 

"Do you have a jacket?" Mina asks. 

 

Chaeyoung shakes her head. "Thanks for reminding me." 

 

Chaeyoung quickly opens her closet and get a jacket from it. 

 

"Do you think my pants will be warm enough or should I change?" Chaeyoung asks. 

 

"It should be fine." 

 

Chaeyoung nods. The two girls find their way out of the apartment and Chaeyoung locks it behind them. 

 

Chaeyoung looks over at Mina as they walk down the long hallways.  _She looks beautiful._

 

Mina smiles shyly. 

 

_Why would someone so perfect have an interest in me?_

 

Mina turns towards Chaeyoung. 

 

"Because I think you're perfect." 

 

Unsure how to react, Chaeyoung just smiles. 

 

_Slick. Now she probably thinks you don't think that she is too._

 

"Stop that!" Mina shouts. 

 

"Stop what?" 

 

"Doubting yourself," Mina grumbles. "I like you and nothing can change that." 

 

Chaeyoung smirks.

 

_I wonder what she would do if I tried to kiss her right now._

 

Mina freezes and turns her head towards Chaeyoung again. "I was wondering the same thing." 

 

_Is she reading my thoughts?_

 

_"Yes. Yes I am."_

 

Chaeyoung jumps back in surprise.

 

"Why the hell did I just hear your voice in my head?" Chaeyoung screams, grabbing onto the nearby wall so she doesn't fall. 

 

Mina laughs. "I can talk to you through your mind." 

 

_"And I think that the way you reacted to my voice was very cute."_

 

_Leave my head you bully._

 

 _"No thank you."_  

 

Mina laughs from beside her. "We can talk without actually talking." 

 

"That's so creepy." 

 

"I think its romantic," Mina giggles. 

 

Chaeyoung laughs as they walk out the front door of Chaeyoung's apartment building. 

 

The cold breeze hits them both like bricks, blowing at their hair and making them both practically blind. Chaeyoung finds that no matter how many times she pushes her hair out of her face, it just goes right back into the same position. 

 

The two girls stop at a red light. 

 

Mina turns towards Chaeyoung giggling at the sight of her messy hair. She runs her hand through Chaeyoung's hair and places it behind her ear. Chaeyoung smiles in response and an immediate  _What if she kisses me?_ follows suit. 

 

She notices Mina doesn't react this time, which makes her sure she isn't in Chaeyoung's mind right now. Mina leans closer to Chaeyoung, tilting her head ever-so-slightly. 

 

"Can I kiss you?" Mina asks in practically a whisper. 

 

Chaeyoung is hesitant to answer at first. "Y-yeah." 

 

Mina leans even closer to Chaeyoung, the distance between their lips as little as one fourth of an inch. Mina continues to move closer, slowly, as if she's teasing Chaeyoung.

 

It takes a couple seconds, but their lips meet. 

 

Chaeyoung has to keep herself from deepening the kiss, afraid of how Mina would react. 

 

_Her lips are so perfect._

 

Mina yet again doesn't react to Chaeyoung's thoughts. 

 

_Why isn't she in my head? Is she afraid to know what I'm thinking?_

 

Mina finally pulls away, smiling.Chaeyoung, on the other hand, is completely flustered and can't manage to properly speak any words. 

 

"So I  _can_ make you nervous?" Mina giggles, taking Chaeyoung's hand again. 

 

"Y-yeah," Chaeyoung manages to say. "Yeah you can." 

 

Mina laughs and pulls Chaeyoung across the streets, skipping happily. 

 

They walk down the street happily, although they both would prefer that it was a little bit warmer. 

 

"Is this it?" Mina asks, pointing at the movie theatre next to them. "It's the address you thought about as we were walking." 

 

Chaeyoung nods. "This is the one." 

 

Mina opens the door and lets Chaeyoung inside.

 

The girls buy some popcorn and drink and find their seats in the middle of the cinema. 

 

"These are really good seats," Mina whispers. "How'd you get them on such short notice?" 

 

Chaeyoung laughs. " _Maybe_ I accidentally used my powers to glitch out the machine while you weren't looking." 

 

Mina sticks her lip out. "That's not what they are for, Chaengie." 

 

"Yeah, but it was  _totally_ an accident." 

 

Mina kisses Chaeyoung. 

 

"And that was an accident too," Mina giggles. 

 

Chaeyoung is yet again too flustered to speak. 

 

Luckily, the movie begins. 

 

* * *

 

 

"That was a good movie," Mina says. "Now I know why you were so excited about it." 

 

Chaeyoung smiles. "I'm glad you liked it." 

 

Mina stops Chaeyoung from passing by the alley to the left of them. 

 

"He's here," Mina whispers, taking Chaeyoung's hand and squeezing it tighter. "He is...he's...Emperor's right hand man. We're screwed without Tzuyu. He's armed with a light gun and he isn't the one who was tracking us down, so he doesn't have powers, but still...he's...he's the right hand man." 

 

"Okay, but can't I just send the bullets away with  _my_ powers?" Chaeyoung asks. 

 

"W-well...theoretically yes, but you don't know how to use your powers yet, Chaengie, and I can't risk you getting hurt," Mina responds, her voice shaking. 

 

Chaeyoung steps forwards, letting herself be visible to the person that stands in the alley. 

 

She gulps, but then finally Chaeyoung speaks. "Hello, sir...uh...are you lost? If you...if you need directions, I live nearby so I can give them to you." 

 

The man grunts and pays no attention to Chaeyoung. 

 

"Where's the master?" he booms. 

 

_"I'm the master."_

 

Chaeyoung is startled by Mina's voice in her head again. 

 

_Since when are you a master?_

 

_"Since now apparently. Ask him the name of the master."_

 

"Who's the master? What is their name?" Chaeyoung shouts back. 

 

"Chaeyoung," he yells. "Son Chaeyoung." 

 

_Me._

 

_"Okay. So he's here to collect you, but he doesn't know that its you. Can you try to blow up his gun? It will blind him and I don't see anyone nearby, so I can quickly take down his body."_

 

Chaeyoung nods. She lifts up her hand and almost immediately, the gun blows up and Mina's body is turning bright blue, just like it had been when she was surprised by Jeongyeon. 

 

Blue flares shoot from Mina's hand and at the destroyer. The cloud of smoke from the gun clear up to show him lying on the floor. 

 

The girls exchange glances before they run towards the man to make sure he is down. 

 

Sure enough, he's dead. His entire top portion of his body is completely burned and sizzling and his head seems to have exploded. 

 

"D-did you blow up his brain?" Chaeyoung asks, turning to Mina. 

 

Mina looks down to the ground. "I told you that you'd view me differently when you saw what I'm capable of." 

 

Chaeyoung shakes her head in disbelief. "You blew up his brain. From...what...twenty feet away?" 

 

"Y-yeah...why?" 

 

"That's awesome!" Chaeyoung yells. "We're like...the perfect team!" 

 

Mina smiles slightly. "You aren't concerned about it at all?" 

 

"I could blow up your brains too if I wanted." 

 

Mina laughs. "Stupid Chaengie." 

 

"Stupid Mina for thinking that I wouldn't think this was cool. We literally just watched a movie about a bunch of gods murdering an entire planet worth of people and you didn't stop to think that I enjoy stuff like that?" 

 

"So there's nothing weird about a dead body lying in front of you." 

 

"W-well...it smells gross." 

 

"Why the hell do I like you, Chaengie." 

 

Chaeyoung smiles and puts her hands on Mina's waist. 

 

"Because even though I'm the oddest human alive who willingly trusted a complete stranger and agreed to going on a weekend trip with you the day I met you, I still have at least one good quality worth falling for." 

 

Mina laughs. "That is one hundred percent true." 

 

_And I feel the same thing about you._

 

Chaeyoung kisses Mina lightly, for a second forgetting about the dead body next to them. 

 

"Well..." Chaeyoung says, taking a step away from the body. "Shall I walk you to your apartment or are we going to stand by this body until the cops find us?" 

 

Mina smiles. "I would love for you to walk me back, but I'll walk you to your apartment since I'm not sure if there is...another person..." Mina looks at Chaeyoung nervously. "Can I stay with you over the night?" 

 

Chaeyoung almost spits. "S-stay o-over?" 

 

"I mean to make sure no one else tries to get you. I don't actually need sleep." 

 

"All humans need sleep." 

 

"All humans except me. I sleep to heal my body. I just want to be able to watch over you to make sure nothing happens while your asleep. Just for tonight." 

 

Chaeyoung nods. "Okay. That's fine." 

 

Chaeyoung and Mina go back to Chaeyoung apartment. 

 

"Well...uh...I'm going to go to sleep, so help yourself to anything you'd like and...uh...wifi password is on the fridge as well." 

 

Mina smiles. "Goodnight, Chaengie." 

 

Chaeyoung smiles back and hugs Mina. "Goodnight, Mina." 

 

They share a quick kiss before Chaeyoung leaves to go to her room. 

 

Mina makes sure that Chaeyoung gets to her room and watches as she gradually falls asleep. 

 

She smiles to herself and finds a comfortable spot on Chaeyoung's couch. 

 

"Sleep well, Chaengie," Mina whispers to herself.

 


	5. Mission Impossible

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mina decides its time for her and Chaeyoung to have a talk, which leads to things Chaeyoung never even prepared herself to be ready for.

**Monday, November 19th**

 

"Chaeyoung," Mina whispers, poking at Chaeyoung's back. "It's nearly eleven. Don't you have classes today?" 

 

Chaeyoung groans. "Ten more minutes." 

 

"You'll be late for class if you don't get up, Chaeyoung." 

 

Chaeyoung groans again. "What time is it?" 

 

"I already said that it's almost eleven." 

 

"What time exactly?" 

 

"Ten fourty six." 

 

"Four minutes, then." 

 

Mina sighs. "Don't you want to know what happened last night while you were asleep?" 

 

"What!?" Chaeyoung yells, quickly sitting up. "What happened?" 

 

"The destroyer came," Mina answers, gulping. "There were...complications." 

 

Chaeyoung then notices the blood stains on Mina's shirt. 

 

"W-what happened?" Chaeyoung asks, her voice shaking. She quickly looks down at the cut. "You...you got hurt! Should I call someone!?" 

 

Mina smiles weakly. "You can't call the hospital when we're hurt just to make sure no one finds out about our powers," Mina says, her fake smile fading. "We vowed on it once we joined the NewPorts." 

 

"B-but...you are...you're bleeding!" 

 

"But we don't need to go to the hospital. Yeah, it hurts...it hurts a lot, but we heal faster. We heal a lot faster." 

 

"But what about your pain now?" 

 

Mina's weak smile returns. "I can deal with it..." she winces as she sits on the bed beside Chaeyoung. "...for now." 

 

Chaeyoung looks down at the cut again. It looks fresh; the blood is still oozing out slowly and ruining Mina's shirt even more than it already had. 

 

"Can I at least help try to make it better? I took some nursing classes back in high school, so I know basic stuff about healing cuts." 

 

"I'm not sure if you could actually treat it..." Mina winces again. "I haven't looked at it yet, but he got me pretty good with a knife." 

 

Chaeyoung's face turns pale. "I-is there a dead body in my living room, then?" 

 

Mina looks down. "He got away." 

 

Chaeyoung buries her face in her palms. "Shit." 

 

Mina flinches when Chaeyoung curses. She turns to Chaeyoung, clearly ready to say something, but stops. Then, she moves her hand closer to Chaeyoung, and hesitates and pulls it away. 

 

There's silence between the girls.  

 

"Can I ask you something that you probably aren't ready for?" Mina finally asks. 

 

Chaeyoung nods. 

 

There's silence again. 

 

Mina clears her throat and then finally speaks, her voice cracking as she asks her question. "Can you leave your college?" 

 

Chaeyoung freezes, completely speechless for minutes on end. 

 

Finally, she speaks. "I saved up for college my entire _life_ just for people to notice my art and to notice me. Why would I just leave my entire _world_ and my entire _future_ because of some stupid person that doesn't like me? I understand the whole 'people can't know about our powers' and that stuff, but why..." Chaeyoung calms down slightly, realizing how much she is upsetting Mina. "...why do I need to sacrifice everything for something I don't even _want_?" 

 

"We all did." 

 

"But why do _I_ need to?" 

 

Mina sighs. "I told you before. Emperor wants a telekinetic queen. Now that they know you're real...he wants  _you._ He'll kill  _everything_ in his way until he gets you and the crystal." 

 

"But why do I need to become a hermit-" 

 

"I didn't say you had to become a  _hermit_ per say." 

 

"Well...quitting college is basically leaving everything I've ever wanted, so its becoming a hermit and just being in this lonely apartment all day." 

 

Mina bites her lip. "That's the thing..." 

 

"What's the thing?" Chaeyoung snaps, making sure to show in her voice 

 

"I already talked to the girls via our thoughts and...and...they've agreed that it's essential to bring you to our shelter under the cafe. We wouldn't just let you live there alone, though, we would come down there and fix it up and live with you too." 

 

"And I'm assuming I don't have a choice?" Chaeyoung voice is yet again hurt, angry, and most of all, upset. "I  _have_ to live in a stupid hole and never leave it so some stupid guy can't turn everyone's lives into literal hell? Why do I have  _this_ much pressure?" 

 

"You should've had it a long time ago. You need to understand that Emperor has been looking for you his  _entire_ life and now here you are. He must be to the point of insanity just to be able to hold you in his arms and claim you as his." 

 

"He's insane for wanting me so desperately," Chaeyoung mutters. "Anyone who does is insane. _You_ guys are insane for even thinking you have a chance to protect me against some...what...eight hundred year old alien?" 

 

"He's human and he's fifty." 

 

"Ok, well, I'm eighteen and that's basically marrying my grandpa. If he was like...some hot...twenty something female, then maybe I'd consider it." 

 

"Just because he's powerful doesn't mean we're more powerful." 

 

"He isn't just one man. You told me that yesterday," Chaeyoung says, groaning. She looks over at the alarm clock beside her bed. "And I'm late for class. Thanks, Mina." 

 

"If you go, you'll get killed," Mina says, her voice cracking. "The destroyer will be there in some sort of a disguise. If you go, you can't trust anyone. They'll brainwash you and they'll steal your body and kill your soul." 

 

"What if I want to die, Mina?" Chaeyoung screams, spit flying from her mouth. "Did you ever think about that? Maybe I'm just really good at faking a smile or laughing even though sometimes it hurts to. Maybe I thought that when I ran into you on the street I thought I'd finally found someone who would generally be interested in me, but here you are, bringing me on a date and asking me out just to be able to make sure the world doesn't get taken over." 

 

"I-I didn't ask you out just to get you to trust me...well...I did, but because I  _am_ generally interested in you. I  _am_ generally interested in making sure you're safe and that Emperor doesn't trick you into doing something you don't really want to do. I _want_ to protect you. Yeah, the reason why you intrigued me at first was because I noticed you had powers, but when I dug further into your mind, I saw someone who was special and unique and someone I could see myself spending my life with. There's a lot of pressure on you right now, but I its my job to help you feel better about what's happening." 

 

"Why exactly is it  _your_ job?" 

 

"Because I'm the reason you're mixed up in this in the first place. If I had just let you go and figure out things yourself, maybe there wouldn't be any problems with Emperor and maybe you would have never figured out that you have powers."

 

Chaeyoung sighs, her face softening. "So you blame this all on yourself, then?" 

 

"It _is_ my fault." 

 

"Maybe I would've figured it out that day anyways. Maybe I would have fallen into Emperor's arms instead...or some destroyer. You may have saved my life, Mina." 

 

"Y-you really think so?" 

 

"Yeah. I was getting suspicious of my powers anyways, so I probably would have found out sooner or later that I had them." 

 

"So you don't blame this on me?" Mina asks, connecting her eyes with Chaeyoungs. 

 

Chaeyoung shakes her head. "I can't blame me having powers on you. I  _could_ blame it on my parents, couldn't I?" 

 

Mina shakes her head. "It isn't inherited." 

 

"Well, they were  _very_ into sending me away across the country for college, so they had to know something." 

 

Mina places her hand on Chaeyoung's shoulder. "If you do blame this on me and you hate me now, just tell me and I'll back off." 

 

Chaeyoung almost laughs. "I don't blame anything on you, Mina, I just said that. I'm just a bit overwhelmed with all of this happening. You would to if one day you're just a normal person with odd luck and then the next, you learn you actually have powers, are the reason the world could possibly end, are attacked by some huge buff guy with a lazer gun on a date with a girl that can read your mind, and then learn the next day that your apartment was attacked by some guy and the mind reading girl was stabbed in the stomach by a guy that shape shift into whatever he'd like and somehow she didn't die from blood loss." 

 

Mina smiles. "I guess it would be a lot, yeah. Sorry. So where does this leave us?" 

 

Chaeyoung takes Mina's hand in her's. "I like this...what we have, I mean. I want to keep this and I guess by getting captured by some old guy with powers won't exactly help me with that."

 

"So what are you saying?" 

 

"Don't you have a friend with super speed?" 

 

"Yeah, why?" Mina's face lights up in delight. Chaeyoung knows Mina is aware where she is going with this. 

 

"She'll need to help me pack up my stuff to move into a creepy old basement under a coffee shop."  

 

"And what about college?" 

 

"I'm already late, so there isn't a point in going to class now. The teacher will murder me if I'm an hour late to a two hour class." 

 

Mina nods. "Sorry." 

 

"Quit apologizing, Mina. You're doing this to keep me safe, not to ruin my life...which reminds me...how exactly will living in a hole keep me safe?" 

 

"The lock on the door to the basement is power repellent. No one can actually figure out the password without asking one of us." 

 

"But can't they just read our minds?" 

 

"No. It only opens to the people that work at the Cafe." 

 

"Can't they just hack into the system, then?" 

 

"Nayeon and Jeongyeon already proofed it of ever being able to be hacked. It has technology from 7089." 

 

Chaeyoung's eyes widen. "So we're completely invincible under there? Even if they blow up the cafe?" 

 

Mina nods. "Nayeon and Jeong traveled in the future and got a lot of protective technology that is completely resistant to absolutely everything." 

 

"That's amazing," Chaeyoung says. "But is it really big enough for all nine of us?" 

 

Mina's face falls. "Well...the girls were kind of annoyed, but there will be a couple of rooms that need to be shared since there is only room for four bedrooms if we also want to build a full bathroom, kitchen, living room, closet, entrance...well, you get the point. A lot of work has to be done to do it, but luckily we have people with superpowers that can make sure our living space is as livable as possible." 

 

"But aren't like...all of us dating someone?" Chaeyoung points out. "That would leave one person with a room to themselves. That would work if everyone is with someone except for one person." 

 

Mina smiles. "That is perfect! Jihyo is the only one of that single, so we can just give her the smallest room and give all the couples the bigger ones!" Her face falls again. "But are you sure we're ready to share a room?" 

 

Chaeyoung smiles back proudly. "Its an entire room, so we can just wait until we're ready and until then, we can have our own beds." 

 

"Are you sure you don't have another power?" Mina giggles. "You're smarter than me and I literally know everything." 

 

"I do, at least I don't know what people are thinking and stalk their every thought." 

 

Mina blushes. "Oh shut up, stupid head." 

 

"Stupid head? Ouch." 

 

Mina giggles and wraps her arms around Chaeyoung. "So should I tell the girls that the basement is going to need a makeover?" 

 

Chaeyoung nods. "Unfortunately. How am I going to quit college and sell my house, though?" 

 

"Uh..." Mina smiles awkwardly. "You could fake your death." 

 

"And my money will go where...?" 

 

"Oh...right. Everyone but you." 

 

"And I'd need a complete makeover." 

 

"Are you _willing_ to be a new person?" 

 

"Will it help with the whole 'Son Chaeyoung is Emperor's one and only true love' situation?" 

 

Mina shrugs. "Maybe he'll think you died and give up the search?" 

 

"I guess that might work." 

 

"W-wait...you  _want_ to fake your death?" 

 

"You weren't kidding?" Chaeyoung blushes, embarrassed. 

 

"W-well...it  _could_ work, I guess...and it would solve a couple issues that might be a little hard to solve. We should ask the girls, though." 

 

Chaeyoung nods in approval.

 

_"Hi, everyone."  Chaeyoung hears Mina's voice ring through her head. "We may have found a solution about the house and quitting college."_

_"Really?" another voice asks. Chaeyoung recognizes it as Nayeon. "There is a hope of solving this?"_

_"Yes." Mina's voice responds. "Is everyone here?"_

_"Yeah," another voice says._

_"I'm here," Chaeyoung regognizes this voice as Tzuyu._

_"I have literally no choice but to be here, Mina," another voice mutters. Chaeyoung realizes its Jeongyeon._

_"Chaeyoung is here, too, guys," Mina voice says. Mina looks over at Chaeyoung and smiles uncomfortably. "She hasn't exactly had a full on conversation in her head with a bunch of voices yet. Especially the ones she doesn't know. Everyone, introduce yourself."_

_"Hi! I'm Sana!" a cheery and high pitched voice says._

_"Nayeon. We met already, so I'm assuming you know my voice."_

_"I'm Jeong. You probably know that, too."_

_"I'm Dahyun. I...uh...don't know what else to say, so hi."_

_"I'm Momoring. You can call me Momo, though."_

_"Tzuyu. I was your waiter at the Cafe two days ago."_

_"I'm Park Jihyo. I'm pretty much the leader of all of these crackheads."_

_"I'm not a crackhead!" Nayeon snaps._

 

_"You sure act like one, Nayeon," Jihyo snaps back._

 

_"Guys? We need to stay on topic. This is super serious," Mina says._

 

Mina looks over at Chaeyoung and shrugs. Chaeyoung can only shrug back in response. 

 

_"Well...Chaeyoung why don't you introduce yourself to the girls," Mina continues._

 

Chaeyoung nods. 

 

_"Hi, everyone. I've never exactly had a conversation with a bunch of superheroes in my mind, so uh...bear with me, I guess. I'm Son Chaeyoung and...uh...I have telekinesis apparently and some dude wants me and another dude tried to catch me last night, but I'm sure you already know this."_

 

_"So Mina is your girlfriend, then?" Sana asks._

 

Chaeyoung's face turns bright red and so does Mina's. 

 

_"We haven't exactly had that conversation yet, Sana," Mina mutters, clearly uncomfortable with discussing this with her friends._

 

_"We only kissed yesterday, so we have to discuss where we are going with this," Chaeyoung adds. "But I think she already knows what I'm thinking."_

 

_"Amazing joke," Jeongyeon says sarcastically. "I haven't heard that...what...eight hundred times before by the other girls."_

 

_"Jeongyeon!" Jihyo's annoyed shrill runs through Chaeyoung's head. "She's new. Give her a break."_

 

_"I'm sorry for having issues with the person who causes the deaths of my friends no matter what I do," Jeongyeon shoots back. "Can you please get out of my mind, Mina? I'm in no mood to speak to her."_

 

_"No," Mina's voice is stern. "You'll stay on and you'll apologize to Chaeyoung. She isn't the reason why you got to lazy and decided to stop trying to fix the future and instead watch us each die a hundred times._

 

_"I don't need to be nice to her at all," Jeongyeon snaps. "She's the reason why we're having any issues right now. Why are we even nice to her?"_

 

_"Because that is our job, asshole," Jihyo screams. "You signed up for letting us help you with your powers, so you'll listen to us and you'll apologize to Chaeyoung. She didn't cause any of this."_

 

Everyone is silent, giving Chaeyoung the opportunity to look over at Mina. 

 

"I'm sorry she hates you so much," Mina whispers. "She's really nice and she's just worried that something with happen to Nayeon. She loves her and prioritizes her over herself and...and...she went to the future and Nayeon dies during a battle and no matter how many times she lives this, she can't find the solution. That is what she told me when I told her about you after we met, at least." 

 

_"Guys really-" Sana's begins._

 

_"Everyone just shut up!" Jihyo screams. "Let Sana talk."_

 

_"Why are we fighting about something as stupid as...this. Not saying your stupid, Chaeyoung, I'm just saying the whole fighting thing is."_

 

_"I understand," Chaeyoung responds. "Can I speak?"_

 

_"Go ahead, Chaengie," Mina says._

 

_"I don't want to cause issues between you all, so if it helps, I can just give myself to Emperor-"  Chaeyoung begins to say._

 

_"We aren't giving up," Momo mutters. "We have the right to solve this and finally be able to be free. If you think we'll just hand you over and lose our chance of freedom, then...then...I don't understand you at all."_

 

_"You're saying it as if she's an item, Momo," Tzuyu responds._

 

_"I didn't mean that you're an item, Chaeyoung, understand that. All I'm saying is that we aren't giving up. You seem like an awesome person and just the thought of giving you away and letting them do what they want to do...is just awful. I want to get to know you and I want to be your friend, so you need to trust us in figuring this out and getting you to safety. You might be one of the biggest parts of this, but I don't want to make you feel that way," Momo says calmly. "  
_

 

Chaeyoung smiles. 

 

_"Thanks, Momo," Chaeyoung says. "I hope I don't cause any issues, really."_

 

_"Don't worry about causing issues, Chaeyoung. We're all here for you and want to help you and we want to solve this," Tzuyu responds._

 

_"We all do," Dahyun adds. "Jeongyeon?"_

 

_"What?" Jeongyeon snaps._

 

_"Can you please just calm down, Jeong?" Nayeon finally says. "Big deal! I probably die, but we all will. You said it yourself, the future can change, so calm down and just live in the moment."_

 

_"Fine," Jeongyeon huffs. "I'm sorry, Chaeyoung."_

 

_"It's okay, Jeongyeon. I appreciate the apology, but it's really not needed," Chaeyoung responds._

 

_"It's not fine," Mina snaps. "Apologize sincerely."_

 

_"Now you're a defensive girlfriend, eh, Mina?" Jeongyeon shoots. "How about you get off my ass and let us finish this conversation so we can figure out how to not die!"_

 

_"I agree with Mina," Jihyo shouts. "And listen to your girlfriend, Jeongyeon. Chaeyoung doesn't deserve being put down for something she didn't do and doesn't even want."_

 

_"Okay, okay! I'm sorry, Chaeyoung. I really just want this to be solved and be able to live my life instead of sitting on the edge all the time. I don't mean to come off so mean and stuff, I just...I'm just scared, that's all."_

 

_"Really, its fine, Jeongyeon. I completely understand how troubled you must feel," Chaeyoung responds._

 

_"You must be," Jeongyeon laughs. "You just got a lot of stuff put on your shoulders."_

 

_"Oh boy...yeah I really do," Chaeyoung says. "But luckily you guys know how to solve this all...right?"_

 

_"Well, Mina said she had an idea, so we're all ears," Nayeon answers._

 

_"Oh...its sort of funny, actually. Chaeyoung and I were just talking and well...we sort of came up with the idea of faking her death," Mina gulps. "It sounds crazy, but we thought about it a little bit and it could give us a little more time to plan this all out because Emperor might think she's dead and call off his men."_

 

_"That's...surprisingly smart," Jihyo responds. "That could work as long as Chaeyoung is okay with saying goodbye to her entire life."_

 

Chaeyoung feels her eyes begin to tear up. 

 

_"I'm not exactly ready, but do I really have a choice? If I keep living out in the open like this, going to college and living alone, I'll get captured and won't be able to say goodbye to anyone. If I fake my death at least I can call my family and say that goodbye," Chaeyoung says. "I'll lose everything, but I'll also have you guys and that leaves me with more than enough."_

 

A tear runs down her cheek. 

 

_"Are you sure this will even work?" Dahyun asks, clearly concerned about the idea. "Will Emperor really stop if he thinks she's dead?"_

 

_"We could at least try, maybe," Tzuyu responds. "It will at least give us a bit of time."_

 

_"So how does this even pan out then?" Jihyo asks. "Will we have her call her family telling them she is going to kill herself?"_

 

_"I guess that would be the easiest solution if she wants to say goodbye, yeah," Sana adds._

 

_"But what about when they come and look for a body?" Momo asks. "Won't that cause issues?"_

 

_"I guess," Jihyo responds. "Maybe we could fake a break in and have her call her family saying her goodbyes."_

_"But wouldn't that make them feel terrible about sending her away?" Mina asks._

 

_"So then are we going to fake murder you?" Sana giggles._

 

_"I think we're better off with the fake suicide. Worst comes to worst, they give up because they can't find the body," Nayeon says._

 

_"I agree. I think fake suicide is the route to go," Jeongyeon adds._

 

_"Okay. So all in for fake suicide think it and Mina will tell me," Chaeyoung agrees._

 

Mina nods and faces towards Chaeyoung. "Its everyone." 

 

Chaeyoung nods, then realizing the tears flowing down her face. 

 

Concerned, Mina scoots herself closer to Chaeyoung on her bed. 

 

"It'll be okay, Chaengie," Mina whispers, wrapping her arm around Chaeyoung. "I know this is completely insane, but it needs to be done if we want to keep you safe." 

 

"Can't I just actually die, Mina?" Chaeyoung croaks, letting the tears soak her clothes. "Why can't I just actually kill myself? It's doing the same amount of damage _and_ even insuring that Emperor can't get me and can't take over the world." 

 

Mina squeezes Chaeyoung tighter, leaning her head on her shoulder. "Because we care. I care. I'm not going to let you just give up like that, Chaeyoung. You're special and you should be able to live your life as the wonderful girl you are." 

 

Chaeyoung manages a smile as she turns to face Mina. "You really think so?" 

 

Mina kisses Chaeyoung's nose gently. "I know so." 

 

_"So what's the decision?" Nayeon asks._

 

Chaeyoung and Mina look at eachother, nodding. 

 

_"Majority had it with the fake suicide. I'm not sure why Sana wanted to murder Chaeyoung so bad, but she lost. Tzuyu can you please like...make sure Sana is mentally okay?" Mina answers, her voice sarcastic, but actually slightly concerned._

 

_"I'm don't actually want to murder anyone," Sana giggles. "I just thought the acting would be fun since I never get to do that anymore."_

 

_"When will we do it?" Jihyo asks._

 

_"I vote today," Chaeyoung responds. "I think the less time I have to regret this, the better."_

 

_"Should we come over now?" Momo asks. "I want to meet you in person."_

 

Chaeyoung looks over to Mina, who smiles and nods. 

 

_"I guess if you guys don't mind seeing my sobbing and crying like a big baby," Chaeyoung laughs, but her laugh sounds as fake as it is. "I'm going to regret this won't I?"_

 

_"Maybe for a little bit," Jeongyeon responds. "But...you'll eventually learn that it was for the better."_

 

_"And what about keeping my identity secret?" Chaeyoung asks._

 

_"Well...we could make you a cute fake name and stuff and give you new hair!" Mina answers, clearly excited. "I think we should chop off your long, black hair and give you lighter hair instead."_

 

_"And leave it long?" Chaeyoung grumbles. "I sort of wanted to cut it short anyways, so how about a mushroom cut?"_

 

_"I think you'll rock it," Nayeon says. "So is this settled?"_

 

_"I'll get ready quick, so come over in like twenty minutes," Chaeyoung answers._

 

_"Okay! See you all in a bit!" Sana says._

 

_"Alrighty everyone. I'm ending the...uh...shared...mind...call...whatever its called! Bye!" Mina exclaims._

 

Chaeyoung looks over at Mina, who looks like she is going to be sick. 

 

"I...uh...may have used my powers for too long," Mina mutters, quickly jumping off the bed and into Chaeyoung's bathroom. Chaeyoung quickly gets up and follows behind Mina. 

 

"What's-" Mina begins to throw up blood into Chaeyoung's toilet. Chaeyoung's eyes widen in surprise as she scrambles to Mina. "Blood! Holy crap! Okay...um...should I call someone?" 

 

Mina grabs a handful of toilet paper and wipes some of the blood off her face. "N-no...I should've known better than to think I could handle you all together for so long." 

 

Chaeyoung takes the hair from Mina's face as she begins to throw up more blood.

 

"Will that happen to all of us if we use it for too long?" Chaeyoung whimpers, patting Mina's back gently. 

 

Mina nods. "I think it'll happen the most for us two. Our powers use the most brainpower and I guess it does something that changes bloodflow."

 

"So...keep in mind not to use my powers for too long or too much. Got it," Chaeyoung nods to herself. "Are you sure you're okay?" 

 

Mina finally picks her face up from the toilet. "Is my nose bleeding?" 

 

Chaeyoung flinches when she notices the trickling blood from Mina's ears and nose. 

 

"Y-yeah..." Chaeyoung croaks. "Now I think I'm gonna be sick." 

 

"D-do you think you could...uh..." Mina looks down at her cut and now blood filled shirt and face. "...could you maybe try to fix my cut?" 

 

"M-me? How?" 

 

Mina smiles uncomfortably. "I mean...you can shift atoms, so that means you could shift the atoms in my stomach to healing quicker." 

 

"S-shifting...leg...atoms...Mina, I can barely pick up a person!" 

 

"Well, its basically the same thing, but the leg stuff is smaller, so you'll have to concentrate."

 

"I mean...I guess I could try...as long as...you know you're done throwing up blood..." Chaeyoung squints her eyes, attempting to look Mina in the face with the blood all over her. 

 

"Oh..." Mina laughs. "I'll clean my face up first." 

 

Chaeyoung nods and moves out of the way for Mina to get to the sink. She watches as Mina cleans every part of her face as if this happens almost everyday. 

 

"So...uh...how often does the bleeding happen?" Chaeyoung asks, leaning against the doorframe. 

 

Mina wipes the water from her face with her shirt. "Not often, really. I think its because I was in a fight today and that took a lot out of me and then after that I had two conversations with a lot of people." 

 

"So...then how do you know when you need to stop?" 

 

"Well, I usually can have one of those connections with all of them for days on end." 

 

"Oh." 

 

"Its weird, yeah, but I got used to how much my powers take out of me." 

 

"Won't sleeping help you gain your energy back?" 

 

Mina smiles weakly. "I haven't slept in so long. I probably couldn't even do it even if I tried. Yeah...it helps a lot. In fact, I think if I slept a full eight hours, I could've done what I did today and two times as much."

 

"So you do need sleep and you just lied so I wouldn't be worried." 

 

"Sorry." 

 

"I knew it was too good to be true," Chaeyoung shakes her head in disbelief. "I can't believe you would do that for me." 

 

"It was worth it, though," Mina smiles weakly again. "Now I know that guy will need to heal for a couple days or so, so we might have even more time before the destroyers become suspicious of your death." 

 

"Oh...right...the death," Chaeyoung's face falls. "I forgot about that already." 

 

Mina puts her hand on Chaeyoung's shoulder. "I can tell them that you don't want to do it." 

 

Chaeyoung shakes her head, her eyes tearing up. "I don't have a choice." 

 

"Do you, though?" 

 

"I don't, Mina. If I don't fake my death, we won't have time to prepare, I won't have time to get used to my powers, and tons of destroyers will be coming and definitely get me."

 

"You could choose to give up," Mina's face falls. "Of course, then you're just a wuss." 

 

"I'm not a wuss." 

 

"Then you need to help us fight," Mina says, squeezing Chaeyoung's shoulder tighter. "Do it for me." 

 

Chaeyoung looks up from the ground and connects eyes with Mina. "For you?" 

 

Mina nods. "I like you. I like you a lot, in fact. I think our date was the most magnificent thing ever and we're such a great team with our powers, so yeah. If you think it doesn't have a purpose to fake your death, then do it for me." 

 

Chaeyoung laughs. "No one has ever told me to fake suicide for them before." 

 

"Well..." Mina smiles. "Then this has to be something special then." 

 

"You think so?" 

 

"We're a perfect team. Even though I've known you for...three days we still have a special connection in my eyes."

 

"I think so too." 

 

Mina kisses Chaeyoung gently, only letting the kiss last for a couple seconds before pulling away. 

 

"I think before we start to get ready now," Mina says, laughing as she pulls away.

 

Chaeyoung nods. "So...uh...do you want to shower before I try to heal your cut...or..." 

 

"Oh...I guess now, sure. Should I...uh...lift my shirt up?" 

 

Chaeyoung's face turns red. "I m-mean...I don't t-think I could d-do it w-without seeing the a-actual cut." 

 

Mina quickly pulls her shirt up and puts it up to her face, trying to hide her blush.

 

Chaeyoung quickly closes her eyes for a moment, keeping herself from thinking about Mina's open stomach. 

 

"S-stop thinking about my stomach! Its embarrassing me!" Mina shouts, holding her shirt tighter. 

 

"S-sorry! Its just...distracting!" Chaeyoung shouts back. "Now shut up or I can't do it!" 

 

Chaeyoung stares at the cut on Mina's stomach, aiming her hand at it. She concentrates on the cuts moving together and healing. Slowly, that exact thing happens until the cut disappears and only a scar is left. 

 

"Y-you...you did it!" Mina face lights up. "You did it! Oh my god! You're getting so good at your powers, Chaengie! Thank you!" 

 

Chaeyoung smiles, pulling Mina into a hug. "Your welcome." 

 

"Well," Mina pulls away from the hug. "I think I'm going to take a quick shower if you don't mind." 

 

Chaeyoung nods. "I'll go get dressed and pack up some stuff." 

 

* * *

 

Chaeyoung almost screams when she hears the knock on her door. 

 

"They are here, Mina!" Chaeyoung shouts, running from her bedroom to the front door to unlock it. 

 

"Hi, Chaeyoung," one of the shorter one shouts, hugging Chaeyoung tightly. "I'm Jihyo." 

 

Chaeyoung smiles. "Hi, Jihyo." 

 

Another one of the girls, this one with purple hair, hugs Chaeyoung. "I'm Dahyun." 

 

The rest of the girls hug and get to know each other, waiting for Mina to finish getting dressed. 

 

"Hey, Chaeyoung!" Mina yells from the bathroom. "Can I borrow some clothes? Mines all bloody and gross, so-" 

 

"Yeah! You can take anything you see," Chaeyoung responds. 

 

Chaeyoung turns back to the girls. "So...uh...how's this going to happen?" Chaeyoung asks. 

 

"Well...we were talking on the way here and we all agreed you should only call one person and not your entire family because then it might be sort of weird," Jihyo responds. 

 

Chaeyoung nods, her eyes tearing up. "Should I...just call my parents, then? My younger brother still lives with them, so I guess my closest family would all be there." 

 

All of the girls nod. 

 

Chaeyoung looks down at the ground, holding in her tears. "And I need to act like I hate myself, right?" 

 

All of the girls nod again. 

 

Mina walks into the room. 

 

"Are we ready?" she asks. 

 

Chaeyoung gulps and then nods. 

 

She picks her phone up from the counter, her hands shaking. She dials her parents home phone number, already struggling to hold in her tears. 

 

"Hello?" her mother answers.

 

"H-hey, mom," Chaeyoung croaks. 

 

"Honey! Hi! What's happening over in college in New York?" 

 

"Uh..." Chaeyoung looks over at the girls and then back at the floor. "I...I have something to say."

 

"Oh ok. Go ahead, sweetie." 

 

"Can you get Jeonghoon and dad here too?" 

 

"Sure, sweetie. Boys! Come here! Chaeyoung is on the phone." 

 

"Hey, sis!" Jeonghoon says. "I miss you!" 

 

"Hey, sweetpea, how's the NYC life?" Chaeyoung's dad asks, clearly happy his daughter called. 

 

"It's awful, guys," Chaeyoung finally lets go of her tears and begins to sob quietly into the phone. "I hate in here. I hate everything. I don't have a job, so I can't afford coming back home and I might have to move out of my apartment." 

 

"Honey, don't cry! We can buy you a plane ticket back to California!" Chaeyoung dad quickly responds. 

 

"I'm not coming home, dad." 

 

"Then what are you gonna do, sis? Stay there forever? I can help pay, too!" 

 

"I'm...I'm done with everything. I'm calling to say goodbye. Forever." 

 

"F-forever?" Chaeyoung mom's voice cracks. "What do you mean, honey?" 

 

"I...I want to thank you guys for being there for me all my life and supporting me when I was discovering myself. Jeonghoon, I'd like you to know that I'm sending you most of my money to pay for nursing college and to make your future possible," Chaeyoung's voice cracks almost everyword as she struggles to keep herself from breaking down on the phone. "And mom and dad...I mean...no parents could ever compare to you guys and I wouldn't want to have lived my life back at home any other way." 

 

Chaeyoung hears the light sobs of her family on the other side of the phone. 

 

"Chaeyoung, honey, what are you doing right now?" Chaeyoung's mom croaks. 

 

"I'm...I'm saying goodbye, mom." 

 

There is silence on the other end of the phone. 

 

"But...sis...where are you going?" Jeonghoon's broken voice finally comes through the phone. "Are you okay?" 

 

Chaeyoung wipes her face, making her open hand totally soaking wet. "My life here sucks and since I can't come home, what's the point of being stuck in chaos and poverty for the rest of my life. I know...I'm only nineteen and I shouldn't be making decisions like these, but..." Chaeyoung falls onto the ground, her legs and body finally giving out. "...I'm done with living. I'm done with being on and Earth that does no good and only brings terror and horrible horrible memories." 

 

"Chaeyoung..." Chaeyoung's dad's voice is lost throughout the phone. He continues, "You can't leave us like this, honey. We love you with our entire hearts and the thought of you gone...it just breaks us." 

 

Chaeyoung flinches, trying her best to keep her phone in her hand. "I love you guys too, but its my time to go. I hope you understand to not try to convince me otherwise and don't be upset about my death because a girl like me doesn't deserve a family like you." 

 

"Chae...are you really going to kill yourself?" Jeonghoon asks. "But you're only eighteen. You have a life and you have a family. You are my best friend, Chae." 

 

"Which is why I'm leaving my money for you, little bro. I hope you finish high school and that you have an amazing life and marry the perfect person. Listen, Jeonghoon, you are an awesome kid and you might only be fifteen, but you have a possibility and you have a lot of smarts, so use my money to make you dreams come true. I don't care if you use my money for drugs or use it to pay a stripper or something...I just want to know you're happy." 

 

"And there is nothing we can do about this, correct, honey?" Chaeyoung's mom asks, her voice horse. "You are killing yourself and this is the last time we'll ever speak to you?" 

 

Chaeyoung nods to herself. "That is correct, mom. I'm going to hang up now, okay? I love you guys and you don't need to miss me because I'll visit you all in spirit all the time." 

 

"Chaeyoung...please..." Chaeyoung's dad voice goes away again. 

 

Chaeyoung break down onto the floor, still holding the phone close to her ear as she cries to herself, mumbling words into the phone that only she can understand. 

 

"I love you guys...goodbye," Chaeyoung manages to say. She slams her phone on the table after hanging it up. She continues to punch it as hard as she can until she's back on the floor sobbing to herself. 

 

Mina comes behind her after a few minutes and rubs her back carefully. 

 

"You'll be okay, Chaeng," Mina whispers, pulling Chaeyoung onto her lap. "I know this is hard." 

 

"It is fucking hard and I already regret this," Chaeyoung screams, slapping her head. "But it is already done and done." 

 

Mina moves her hand to rub the top of Chaeyoung's head instead. "I'm sorry." 

 

Chaeyoung buries her face is Mina's legs. Her voice is muffled, but clear. "Now I really do want to die." 

 

All of the girls stand there in silence as Mina attempts to comfort Chaeyoung. 

 

"Chaengie," Mina croaks, now crying herself. "They'll miss you, but you do realize by doing this, you're saving them. By faking your death, Emperor is going to think your gone and it'll give us the advantage and we could take the crystal and we can solve this all. You could be saving the entire world right now, Chaeyoung. You're the hero of the story." 

 

"I'm no hero," Chaeyoung mutters. "I'm just a mistake that is doing what needs to be done and struggling to deal with the consequences."

 

"Even if you're name isn't known throughout the world, we all think you're so strong to be able to do this," Jihyo whispers, sitting down next to Mina and Chaeyoung. "You are the strongest person out of all of us." 

 

"What about Tzuyu?" Chaeyoung asks. "Doesn't she have super strength?" 

 

Mina and Jihyo both laugh. 

 

"You are even _stronger_ than her," Mina responds. "And that's really saying something." 

 

Chaeyoung laughs, turning her head around to face the two girls. "Is this going to suck? Now I have no family and everyone thinks I'm dead." 

 

Jihyo takes Chaeyoung's holding it firmly. "Us eight can be your family." 

 

Chaeyoung smiles, squeezing Jihyo's hand back. "Thank you, Jihyo." 

 

The rest of the girls return to the room smiling proudly. 

 

"We packed up all of her stuff and we even called up Mark and Maria to come here and duplicate it all and to make a fake dead body," Nayeon says, gleaming. "They should be here any minute." 

 

"They even said they'll help us a bit with decorating the house and stuff," Sana adds. "Supers surely save a lot of money." 

 

Chaeyoung turns to Jihyo and Mina. "Who are Maria and Mark?" 

 

"They are friends of our's. We met when we first began NewPorts, but they chose not to join since they didn't want to be limited with their powers," Mina responds. "They aren't exactly use their powers for  _good,_ but they don't hurt anyone, so we didn't bother to argue with them." 

 

"They actually can form things by changing molecules, similar to your powers. You change sift molecules, which is even more powerful than them," Jihyo continues. "Give yourself a little bit and we shouldn't even need the call the twins." 

 

Chaeyoung's face lights up. "I can form stuff!?" 

 

Mina smiles, clearly happier now that Chaeyoung is feeling better. "As long as you don't sit down on the couch like a big fatso and never practice your powers," Mina turns to Jihyo. "...which reminds me. Do you think we could have a practice room in the basement? It  _is_ the size of the entire cafe, so we _should_ have some extra room." 

 

Jihyo sighs. "Ask the twins when they get here." 

 

Mina nods, turning back to Chaeyoung. "So...how are you doing now? Better?" 

 

Chaeyoung shrugs. "I've been better, obviously, but I know what I did was right...its just I'm going to miss them."

 

"I completely understand that, Chaeng. I, for one, have not actually faked my death, but I'm sure I'd be a complete mess," Mina responds. 

 

Jihyo gets up. "I'm going to help the girls with figuring out whats happening with the twins, so I'll give you guys some space. I'm sure Chaengie needs some comfort from her girlfriend," Jihyo giggles and skips away. 

 

Chaeyoung and Mina both face each other, unsure what to say.

 

"Er...well...maybe I shouldn't tell them _everything,"_ Mina sighs. "I told them that I like you and now that they know the feeling is mutual...I guess they just enjoy messing around with me about finally being ready to get into a serious relationship." 

 

Chaeyoung laughs, getting off of Mina's lap and instead sitting on the couch beside her. "I bet they are just proud you are growing up." 

 

"Wow...what a friend you are!" Mina pouts, clearly upset Chaeyoung is on her friend's side. 

 

"I'm glad I met you at the right time, then. If I had met you...let's say...two years before, would you have even considered dating me?" 

 

Mina shakes her head. "Back then I was figuring stuff out." 

 

"Yourself?" 

 

MIna laughs. "Yeah. It was when I determining whether or not I liked girls. I've only been sure for a couple months or so." 

 

"Cool." 

 

"What about you?" 

 

"I came out to my family in like ninth grade." 

 

"What about girlfriends? Did you have any before?" 

 

Chaeyoung shakes her head. "Nope. I've never dated before. Well...if you don't count those stupid middle school relationships where you both like each other, date for two weeks and hold hands once, then break up."

 

"Oh, boy. I smell some great stories." 

 

Chaeyoung giggles. "Another time, maybe. After we're all settled into the hole and neither of us can sleep." 

 

"Oh yeah! You're my roomie! I completely forgot," Mina yells, bursting out laughing afterwards. 

 

Chaeyoung laughs back. "How could you already forget? We're literally the people that came up with the whole 'the couples are sharing rooms' idea!" 

 

"I'm stupid, Chaeyoung, you need to know that." 

 

"I thought that you think that  _I'm_ stupid." 

 

"That's only because you're stupid for trusting me. Like I said before, I'm the reason all of this crap is happening to you right now." 

 

Chaeyoung leans her head on Mina's shoulder. "And I said that it isn't your fault." 

 

"And that I could've saved you...yeah..." 

 

Chaeyoung sighs. "Mina, you need to understand that even if you were the reason my life sucks, which you aren't and my life  _doesn't_ suck, I still like you. I like you a lot, so you just need to suck it up and deal with that." 

 

Mina nods, smiling. She turns towards Chaeyoung, her smiling growing brighter. 

 

"What's with that smile?" Chaeyoung asks. "Its creepy." 

 

Mina laughs. "I'm just happy around you, I guess. You just basically confessed your undying love for me, so like...I'm happy about that." 

 

Chaeyoung slaps Mina's arm playfully, laughing. "It was just me proving a point not proposing to you, stupid." 

 

"Well, too bad we're engaged now and you have to deal with it." 

 

The girls laugh together and continuing laughing, completely amused by the tears pouring out of each of their eyes. 

 

"Sorry to interrupt your laughing conversation," Momo says from a couple feet away. "...but Maria and Mark are here and we sort of need to introduce you to them." 

 

Both of the girls quickly get up and go to the door as Momo opens it.  

 

A girl slightly taller than Mina talks in next to a man, even taller than Tzuyu. 

 

They both smile when they see Chaeyoung. 

 

"Hi, Miss. Son!" Mark says, smiling. "I'm Mark Gonzalez and this is my sister Maria." 

 

Maria smiles and shakes Chaeyoung hands. "Hi," she says. 

 

Chaeyoung smiles back to them, unsure of how to greet them, being she is technically dead and her entire house is packed up and nothing is left to offer them. 

 

"Well...uh..." Mark looks around the room. "...so you're dead, huh?" 

 

Chaeyoung laughs. "Well...not until you guys create a dead body." 

 

He nods, his smile growing wider. "So our job is to make the scene look like a fake suicide...ah?" 

 

Chaeyoung nods. "Apparently Sana planned the whole thing out and is ready to position everything." 

 

Just then, Sana bounces down the hallway to greet the twins. She hugs them and kisses their cheeks.

 

"Okay. I'll admit I'm super excited, so...c'mon guys!" Sana shouts, pulling them both by their hands to Chaeyoung's bedroom. 

 

Mark gives her an innocent 'I'm sorry' sort of smile and lets Sana pull him away. 

 

Chaeyoung turns back to Momo and Mina. 

 

"She's funny isn't she?" Momo giggles. "She's like everyone's overly affectionate older sister." 

 

Mina and Chaeyoung both laugh. 

 

"I can totally see that," Chaeyoung responds, rubbing her eyes. 

 

Momo turns around to look at the twins and to see what they are doing and points over there. "I should go help with moving stuff, so...uh...see you in a bit, then!" 

 

Momo then disappears and is next to the rest of the girls in Chaeyoung's room. 

 

"Are you tired?" Chaeyoung asks, turning to Mina. 

 

She nods. "Exhausted." 

 

"Want to go lay down on the couch until we are done? I think they'll understand because of how much you've done in the last day." 

 

Mina nods, pulling Chaeyoung into a hug. "I'll definitely fall asleep, so wake me up when everything is finished." 

 

Chaeyoung nods as Mina kisses her forehead lightly. 

 

Mina makes her way to the couch and within seconds, she knocked out and dead asleep on the couch. Chaeyoung laughs to herself, but then realizes how terrible she feels laughing now that she realizes how much Mina works herself. 

 

Now slightly disturbed, Chaeyoung makes her way to bedroom, just to be more disturbed by the blood fake Chaeyoung on the floor.

 

"Is...is this me?" Chaeyoung cries, falling back onto her door frame. She regains her balance and makes her way to the body. "It looks...just like me." 

 

Sana jumps up. "Isn't it so coooool!?" 

 

Mark turns around and shrugs, along with most of the other girls. 

 

"Its creepy isn't it?" Jeongyeon says, scratching the back of her head. "Maybe we went a little overboard with the blood. 

 

"How'd I die?" Chaeyoung asks, walking around the body, confused about all the blood. 

 

"You shot yourself," Jihyo answers. "You got it from a dealer or something." 

 

"So wheres the gun?" Chaeyoung finds her way back to the door frame again. 

 

"Your hand, see?" Dahyun answers, pointing at the gun. "We made it so it looked like you shot yourself while standing up and fell." 

 

Chaeyoung shakes her head in shock. "Its so believable that even I think its real." 

 

Mark laughs. "We're good at what we do, what can I say." 

 

"What about all of my stuff being taken? Won't they be a little suspicious about that?" Chaeyoung walks over to the boxes beside her door. 

 

"Mark and Maria are going to clone it all and leave the boxes here so it looked like you were trying to move away, but decided to kill yourself instead," Tzuyu responds. "My insane girlfriend planned the entire thing out." 

 

Chaeyoung raises her eyebrows. "I would never see Sana as the 'faking a murder planner' sort of a person, but I mean, its cool." 

 

Sana laughs. "I'm just excited to help out, that's all. I haven't been having this much fun since I started NewPorts!" 

 

Everyone laughs back. 

 

Chaeyoung asks, "So are we done here then? Are we just going to leave and...hope that it works?" 

 

" _After_ we change up your hair. We'll dispose of everything so nothing is left for evidence that you're still alive," Nayeon says. "But...Mina is the one you should talk to about that, since she's the person we always go to for disguises." 

 

"But this isn't a disguise, it's my new person!" Chaeyoung says. "It needs to make me look like a new person!" 

 

"Trust us," Jeongyeon says. "She's good. If you saw me...two years ago, you wouldn't ever recognize me." 

 

Chaeyoung opens her eyes in surprise. "Should I wake her up then?" 

 

Dahyun nods. "We should get out as soon as possible, assuming your parents call the cops and stuff." 

 

"I completely forgot about the cops!" Chaeyoung shouts. "Can we please just do it at the cafe, then? Can't Momo just run me there so no one sees me?" 

 

The girls exchange glances and then turn back to Chaeyoung. 

 

"That'll work," Jihyo responds, walking into the bedroom. "Tzuyu and Mina can wait here with Dahyun and if any cops come, we'll just have Tzuyu take all the boxes and Dahyun teleport them out." 

 

"That works," Dahyun says. 

 

"I'm down with it," Tzuyu says. "As long as its full proof." 

 

Dahyun smiles. "Trust me, I never miss." 

 

Dahyun then disapears and reappears as she bangs her head on the door frame next to Chaeyoung. She falls back, clearly in pain. 

 

"Except for right then," she grumbles, holding her head. "I was too excited, sorry." 

 

"Can't Momo just come back?" Tzuyu whines. "We're going to get caught!" 

 

Jihyo shakes her head. "Nope. Chaeyoung go wake up Mina and tell her she's got guard duties and that the cops are coming." 

 

Chaeyoung nods and runs over the couch Mina is sound asleep on. At first, she just stares at Mina and watches her sleeping, but then she remembers the little time they have left. 

 

"Hey, Mina," Chaeyoung whispers, rubbing Mina's back lightly. "We need to go." 

 

Mina groans and turns around to face Chaeyoung. "What?" 

 

"We have a plan and Jihyo said to tell you the cops are coming and you have guard duties." 

 

Mina groans again. "I  _always_ have guard duties." 

 

"Sorry, Meen," Chaeyoung says shrugging. "Jihyo's orders are the orders apparently."

 

Mina nods. "Be careful then, okay?" 

 

Chaeyoung nods. "You too." 

 

Chaeyoung leans down and kisses Mina lightly. 

 

"I better go, Momo is waiting." 

 

"See you in the hole." 

 

Chaeyoung gets up. "Seriously, be careful." 

 

"I will, Chaengie." 

 

Chaeyoung kisses Mina again. 

 

Mina pulls away from the kiss ready to say more. "Make sure no one sees you because when your death goes in the paper, people might be like 'oh hey I saw her' and that'll cause lots of issues." 

 

Chaeyoung nods. "I'm gonna go." 

 

Mina nods. "I'm going to...talk to Jihyo about what I need to do." 

 

Chaeyoung joins Momo at the front door.

 

"Ready?" Momo asks.

 

Chaeyoung nods and hops onto Momo's back. 

 

"I'm going," Momo says. 

 

Momo jumps forwards, rushing past the door and going out of the apartment. The scenes around Chaeyoung's were basically just a blur and she can't even figure out where she is until Momo is placing her onto the ground of the kitchen. 

 

"Whoa," Chaeyoung says, rubbing her forehead. "That was something." 

 

Momo nods proudly. "Right? Well...I should head back so...just...make yourself at home. There are snacks in the fridge over there and help yourself to basically anything," she points to a door. "If anyone comes here, go in there. We should all be here in ten minutes at most, so I'll see you in a bit." 

 

Chaeyoung nods, waving to Momo as she leaves the kitchen. She reaches for her pocket to get her phone, but realizes she doesn't have it anymore. Jihyo had taken it because she couldn't use her number anymore and would need a special phone so no one could track her. 

 

She sighs to herself, plopping down onto on of the chairs near the fridge. 


	6. Adapting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now that Chaeyoung has officially become the priority of the NewPorts and the destroyers have given up their search for a bit, Mina chooses to use this time as training time...and also one on one time with Chaeyoung. 
> 
>  
> 
> ((semi-smut in the end))

**Monday, November 19th**

 

Chaeyoung kicks the box again. 

 

"This is so stupid," she mutters. "I have to wait for the bleach to settle in before we cut my hair? Why couldn't we have just done the cutting first?" 

 

Mina shrugs. "We could have." 

 

"Now I have to wait," Chaeyoung groans. "I hate waiting." 

 

Mina pulls a metal chair next to Chaeyoung. The sound of the chair hitting the ground echoes through the cold basement. 

 

"I could tell Momo to come in and help us-" 

 

"Who called me?" Momo asks from the doorway. "I heard my name." 

 

Chaeyoung laughs. "Mina was just saying something about you helping us." 

 

"Set up?" Momo asks.

 

Mina nods. "Not all of us can move in super speed." 

 

Momo nods and before either of the other girls could respond, the room is set up exactly how they wanted it to be. She even put a TV on the side opposite of their beds and all of their posters around the wall. 

 

"Whoa," is all Chaeyoung can say as she looks around the room.

 

"Cool, right?" Momo responds, partially out of breath. "I just finished up mine and Dahyun's room and let me just say...I have the coolest shaped room. We have a secret compartment and everything." 

 

Chaeyoung's eye widen. "What secrets are you hiding?" 

 

Momo shrugs. "Just you know...weapons, potions, all that jazz." 

 

"Momo!" someone shouts from a room down the hallway. "I need you!" 

 

Momo shrugs. "Gotta go." 

 

Chaeyoung turns back to Mina. 

 

"How long until my hair is going to be done?" Chaeyoung asks. 

 

"I'll check on it now," Mina responds, shifting the tinfoil on Chaeyoung's head. There's silence for a couple seconds as Mina checks Chaeyoung's hair. "It's like a strawberry blonde." 

 

"That's a big difference considering my hair was black as hell." 

 

"It was cute, though, aren't you going to miss it?" 

 

Chaeyoung sighs. "It'll live with the 'missing my family' section of my brain." 

 

"How short do you want your hair?" Mina asks, completely ignoring what Chaeyoung had responded. 

 

"Uh...mushroom cut. It's like if a pixie cut and a bob had a baby." 

 

Mina nods and removes all the tinfoil from Chaeyoung's head and begins to cut her hair. 

 

Chaeyoung feels her heart stop as she sees the her extraordinarily long hairs fall to the ground beside her. It had taken her over two years to grow her hair out that long and it almost hurts to see it being cut off.

 

"So...got any ideas about your fake identity?" Mina asks, concentrated on Chaeyoung's hair. 

 

"I'm thinking I'm Sally-Anne Johnson-Davis. I lived in the countryside with my husband Billy-Bob-Joe Davis with my two daughter. Melissa, my older one has cancer and the reason why we moved here was because they have better treatment here. I'm twenty-eight and I live in a small house just big enough to fit us four." 

 

Mina laughs. "That is...interesting, but we need to be serious about this. If you ever make friends, how will you explain to them why you're always at the coffee shop?" 

 

Chaeyoung nods. "I guess that makes sense," she thinks for a moment before continuing. "My name is Katie Myoui. I'm married with no kids because I'm married to a girl and it doesn't work like that. We own this cafe and built our entire life upon it." 

 

Mina nods. "That'll work, but why Myoui?"

 

"Because I'm married to you. What's your fake name?"

 

Mina blushes. "Uh...Patricia Myoui?" 

 

"Patty and Katie. Stupid," Chaeyoung giggles. "I love it." 

 

Mina laughs. "So now I have a secret identity too? Jeez." 

 

Chaeyoung hears a last clip from Mina's scissor. 

 

"I'm done," Mina says. "I think this is the best job I've ever done." 

 

Nervous, Chaeyoung walks up to the mirror Momo had placed in the middle of Mina and Chaeyoung's split beds. She inhales quickly as she looks at her hair.

 

"I love it!" Chaeyoung screams, hugging Mina. "Thank you, Mina!" 

 

Mina smiles, pulling Chaeyoung tighter into the hug. "Anything for you." 

 

"Are you going to do anything to your hair?" Chaeyoung asks. 

 

Mina shakes her head. "I'm too scared to cut as much as you did, honestly." 

 

"I'm not saying to shave your head! I'm just saying you should cut off a little so it isn't in your face." 

 

Mina sighs. "Do you think you could do it?" 

 

"Cut your hair? You trust me with that?" 

 

Mina shrugs. "Relationships are built off of trust, so sure." 

 

Chaeyoung picks the scissor off of their dresser. "Okay. Sit down, then, Miss. Myoui. How much would you like cut off?" 

 

Mina gulps. "Just cut it to just under my shoulder. I don't want it too short." 

 

Chaeyoung nods, concentrating on cutting Mina's hair as even as possible. After a couple cuts, she gets bored and decides to try to cut Mina's hair with her powers instead. She's surprisingly good at aiming the scissor and cuts Mina's hair even better. 

 

"Do you want layers?" Chaeyoung asks. "I can do it now apparently." 

 

Mina shrugs. "Sure." 

 

Chaeyoung again leads the scissor across Mina's hair, cutting it perfectly and evenly. 

 

"I'm done," Chaeyoung says, leading the scissor to her hand and catching it. "I even used my powers because I'm  _that_ awesome." 

 

Mina's eyes go wide as she looks in the mirror. "It's amazing!" 

 

Chaeyoung shrugs. "I can't believe I did that, honestly." 

 

"You did it so well, too, especially since you used your powers! Wow." 

 

"You look cute with that hair," Chaeyoung says giggling. "Just to think now I get to see you like this all the time..." 

 

"You're getting good at your powers, though, Chaengie," Mina exclaims. "Maybe...would you want to go train? To see what you can do." 

 

Chaeyoung nods. "That sounds great. Do you think they finished it up yet?" 

 

"With Momo and the twins as a team, they've probably  _been_ done and are eating snacks like no tomorrow." 

 

Chaeyoung giggles and follows Mina throughout the house until they find the training room. It looks similar to a gym, with a mirror and a couple training machines. The only difference in the back, where there is a power training area with several shields around it. 

 

Chaeyoung turns to Mina confused. 

 

Mina notices. "Its to make sure when we use our powers, we can't blow up the house or break anything." 

 

Chaeyoung nods and walks through the shield. 

 

"This is the only place you can really train hard with your powers," Mina explains. "You're the most unstable, so you need to make sure to be careful when using your powers anywhere that isn't in here." 

 

Chaeyoung nods. "What should I do, then?" 

 

"Well...just for fun...why don't you try to use your powers to pick me up." 

 

Chaeyoung almost laughs as she picks up Mina with ease, waving her around in the air like a fish. 

 

"Now try to do it without your hand," Mina says. 

 

Chaeyoung releases Mina and then puts her arm down to her side. 

 

"Close your eyes and just take a minute to  _feel_ the atoms around you. Then, open them and try to pick me up without your limbs." 

 

Chaeyoung closes her eyes and listens to the silence. She's confused what she looking for at first, but then she sees it. She can feel the atoms shifting and moving around her. She opens her eyes, staring at Mina. Mina then lifts up and waves in the air again. 

 

Mina nods as she is placed back on the ground. 

 

"Now fight me," Mina says, her voice serious. "If someone attacks you, you should have some experience fighting someone a lot more powerful than you. I'll start off easy, but I'm not going to go easy on you." 

 

Chaeyoung nods nervously as Mina creates a distance between the two. 

 

"Go," Mina shouts and begins to run towards Chaeyoung. 

 

She hesitates at first, but before Chaeyoung can process what even happened, she flying across the room and slamming to the brick wall behind her. She groans, rubbing her head as the world goes blurry. 

 

"You'd be dead!" Mina shouts. "Again!" 

 

Chaeyoung gets up, completely unbalanced and nauseous. 

 

Mina runs at Chaeyoung again, readying a blast, but Chaeyoung quickly shoots Mina back and pins her against the wall. She laughs, walking up to Mina as she attempt to free herself from Chaeyoung's power. 

 

"Looks like  _you_ would've died," Chaeyoung says, poking at Mina's chest. "Don't go easy on me, Mina. I'm ready." 

 

Chaeyoung releases Mina from her grasp and finds her place in the room. 

 

"Go," Mina says. 

 

Mina throws a ball at Chaeyoung, but Chaeyoung blasts it away, making it hit Mina instead. She slams against the wall, groaning. 

 

"Fine," Mina shouts. "I'm going to pretend that your Emperor, then. I'm not going to just give up after the wall." 

 

Chaeyoung nods. 

 

"Go!" 

 

Chaeyoung ducks down as Mina's blast barely misses her head. She quickly regains her balance and forces herself to fly in the air, away from Mina. She pushes her hands forward, sending force down at Mina. She flies back, hitting the wall, but then uses her blasts to make her way up to Chaeyoung. 

 

"You're good," Mina mutters. "But I'm better." 

 

Mina then disappears. Chaeyoung looks around the room desperately, readying her hands to send Mina flying. She feels someone poking her back and quickly turns around to blast at Mina. She does blast at Mina, but Mina is totally unphased.

 

Chaeyoung almost begins to cry as she notices Mina's blue eyes again. The blue flames within her lover's eyes frightens her to almost the point of loosing her stability in the air and falling.

 

Mina blasts Chaeyoung, paralyzing her. She begins to fall, but Mina lands on the ground before Chaeyoung and catches her before she hits the ground. 

 

"I can't feel anything," Chaeyoung screams, a nervous wreck. "What did you do?" 

 

Mina places Chaeyoung down on the ground and lays down beside her. "Teaching you not to overestimate yourself in a battle. If you aren't completely aware of where your opponent is at all times, you're screwed and guaranteed a loss. If you were in an actual battle, you would've died." 

 

"I would have the other girls, though." 

 

"Not if you are the only one standing." 

 

Chaeyoung gulps. "Is it that serious?" 

 

Mina nods. "Emperor is powerful. He's the  _most_ powerful." 

 

Chaeyoung feels the numbness in her legs disappearing. "So I'm screwed if someone attacks me basically?" 

 

Mina shakes her head. "You're surprisingly good for someone who  _just_ got their powers two days ago." 

 

"Thanks," Chaeyoung says, giggling. 

 

Mina slips her hand into Chaeyoung's, squeezing it gently as she scoots closer to Chaeyoung. 

 

"How are you feeling?" Mina asks. 

 

Chaeyoung sighs. "Well...I guess it'll be interesting to see  _my_ death in the paper." 

 

"I'm serious, Chaeyoung. Are you okay?" 

 

"Well..." Chaeyoung's face falls. "Not exactly. I feel bad for causing them so much pain." 

 

Mina turns to face Chaeyoung and begins to rub her thumb against Chaeyoung's hand lightly. "I'm here if you need to vent." 

 

"I know you are." 

 

"You can talk to me." 

 

"Thank you." 

 

"I could just go into your mind if you don't want to say it out loud." 

 

"Sure." 

 

There's silence between them as Mina explores Chaeyoung's head. 

 

"So...Jeonghoon really looks up to you, huh? You're scared he'll hurt himself?" 

 

Chaeyoung nods. 

 

"He won't, trust me. He appreciates the money you gave him so much that he just started looking for colleges." 

 

Chaeyoung smiles. "Really?" 

 

"I'm in his head right now. Should I say something?" 

 

"Can I?" 

 

"Sure. You're in it now." 

 

_"Hey, Jeonghoon."_

 

_"C-chaengie?"  Jeonghoons cries._

 

_"You know better than to think I'm in your head. I know you miss me, but having me in here is sort of crazy."_

_"Well, its nice to hear your voice in the least. I miss you."_

 

_"I miss you too, Jeonghoon, but I'm where I wanted to be."_

 

_"But I don't want you there."_

 

_"Well, its too late now. I hope you're happy."_

 

_"Not without you, sis."_

 

_"You're going to need to be from now on, Jeongie. I'm gone."_

 

_"I know you are."_

 

_"I love you, little bro. You don't need to miss me, okay? I'll always be with you."_

 

_"I love you more, sis."_

 

Chaeyoung smiles and turns to face Mina, surprised by the fact that she had already turned towards her.

 

"Oh s-sorry," Chaeyoung mumbles, turning her head back to face the ceiling.

 

Mina's soft hand pulls her head back to face her. 

 

"You don't need to be embarrassed with me either, Chaengie," she says, her face lighting up. "I'm someone you can trust with your everything." 

 

Chaeyoung smiles, staring deeply into Mina's eyes. Mina scoots herself closer, their lips close. Chaeyoung looks down at Mina's lips then back at her eyes. 

 

_I want to kiss her._

 

_To claim her._

 

_To call her mine._

 

"I know exactly what you're thinking, Chaeng," Mina whispers, her cheeks red. "Why?" 

 

"Why not?" Chaeyoung responds. She crashes her lips into Mina's. Her hands find their way on Mina's body. She let them roam and explore every part of Mina's body. Mina's hands do the same. 

 

Their kiss deepens and Chaeyoung's hands find their way under Mina's shirt, rubbing her stomach and back gently. 

 

Mina finds her way on top on Chaeyoung, holding her closely. 

 

Mina pulls away for a second panting. "C-can we...take this back-" 

 

_Yes._

 

Mina smiles mischievously. 

 

_"Thank you."_

 

_Anything._

 

Chaeyoung lifts herself up, helping Mina after she gets up. She runs her hands against the cut on Mina's cheek.

 

"I hurt you," Chaeyoung whispers panting. "I can make it up to you." 

 

Mina shakes her head, the girls hitting the wall as they struggle to make their way to their room. "I don't need anything." 

 

_"But you."_

 

Chaeyoung smiles.

 

So _take me._

 


	7. Day One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The tables turn when the NewPorts' plan may have worked a little //too// well.

**Tuesday, November 20th**

 

"So what did you guys to yesterday while we were setting up?" Sana asks, giggling. "When I came in to see you guys were alright, you were both sleeping on Mina's bed." 

 

Chaeyoung's face turns bright red. "N-nothing! We were training and I was tired and fell asleep on Mina's bed." 

 

"But why did you choose Mina's over your's?" 

 

"B-because!"

 

Sana's giggles continue until Jihyo walks into the room, looking distressed. 

 

"We have an issue," Jihyo grumbles, sitting down in the seat next to Chaeyoung's. "Emperor  _does_ believe Chaeyoung is dead." 

 

"How's that an issue, though?" Chaeyoung asks, putting a huge spoonful of cereal in her mouth. 

 

"Because now he's furious. I got information from an insider that he's training his men until they break down and need to go to the hospital." 

 

Chaeyoung tenses up. "Does this mean I'll need to train a lot more?" 

 

Jihyo nods. "I want you to train with Tzuyu, Momo, and Mina. They're the most powerful out of all of us and we need to make sure you're prepared for everything." 

 

Chaeyoung puts another spoonful of cereal in her mouth. "So...when do I train?" 

 

"Right after you are done eating," Jihyo responds, getting up. "The sooner you start, the stronger you'll become." 

 

Jihyo leaves the room, leaving Sana and Chaeyoung standing.

 

"She's intense when she's nervous, isn't she?" Sana asks, nervous. "She can be so intimidating sometimes." 

 

Chaeyoung nods. "And I thought I'd be able to just get a day off, but nooooo Emperor has to get all cranky." 

 

Sana laughs. "Well, the girls will train you well, so finish up your food quickly and meet them in the training room, which I designed myself." 

 

Chaeyoung sips the milk from her bowl and places it down onto the kitchen table. "The protective shield is cool, but it freaking hurts when you slam against it." 

 

Sana smirks. "So Mina pinned you down?" 

 

"N-no! We were training and she blasted me onto the wall!" Chaeyoung cries. 

 

Sana's smirk continues as she sits down across from Chaeyoung. "Well..." Sana leans in closer. "I could hear you two." 

 

Chaeyoung's face goes pale. "Y-you...you could?" 

 

Sana pulls back smiling. "Nope, but now I know that I was riiiiiight!" 

 

Chaeyoung huffs and places her bowl angrily into the sink. "Screw you, Sana." 

 

"No! It's 'Screw me, Mina!'" Sana shouts as Chaeyoung leaves the kitchen, fuming. 

 

Chaeyoung makes her way around the house and enters the training room to find the three girls already going at each other. 

 

"Hey!" Momo shouts.

 

Tzuyu and Mina both turn to face Chaeyoung. 

 

Tzuyu smiles. "Hey, Chaeyoung." 

 

Mina's face brightens up at the sight of Chaeyoung. "Hey, Chaengie." 

 

Chaeyoung enters the shield to stand beside the girls. "Jihyo said to train with you guys, so here I am." 

 

"Chaeyoung has already faced me, so maybe you should try to fight Tzuyu instead," Mina says. 

 

Chaeyoung nods. "Don't break too many of my bones." 

 

Tzuyu laughs, watching the other girls exit the shield. "I'm not going to go  _that_ hard on you." 

 

"Feel free," Chaeyoung says as she begins to warm herself up. "I destroyed Mina." 

 

"You didn't  _destroy_ me! I was going  _easy_ on you!" Mina screams. "There's a difference!" 

 

"Can I count you guys down?" Momo yells.

 

Tzuyu shrugs. "Sure." 

 

"Remember, Chaeng! Atoms! Focus on the atoms and you can give yourself as much strength as Tzuyu has!" Mina screams. 

 

_The atoms in my arms...okay._

 

 

Chaeyoung looks up at Tzuyu, readying her fists. 

 

"Okay!" Momo screams. "3...2...1...go!" 

 

Tzuyu gets to Chaeyoung quickly with her longs legs, but even with her arms, Chaeyoung dodges her hits easily. 

 

Chaeyoung makes sure to focus her powers on her hands and punches Tzuyu. Tzuyu flies across the room and slams into the wall. 

 

She yelps as she hits the wall, making it clear she thought she would win. 

 

"Sorry," Chaeyoung says, running over to Tzuyu to help her up. "I'm still learning how to control it." 

 

Tzuyu laughs. "Well...now we know that you can be front line in the least." 

 

Chaeyoung's face goes white. "F-frontline? But I don't know how to use my powers!" 

 

"But you're strong." 

 

"B-but-" 

 

"Just shut up and go at me again!" Tzuyu complains, making her way to a spot across the room. 

 

"3...2...1...GO!" Momo screams. 

 

Tzuyu runs backwards, keeping her eye on Chaeyoung the entire time. Confused Chaeyoung just lifts herself into the air, preparing herself to shoot Tzuyu away. Tzuyu smirks and then jumps high into the air. Her fists are ready, but Chaeyoung is too quick for her. Tzuyu finds herself completely frozen as she edges closer to Chaeyoung's floating self. 

 

Chaeyoung lifts herself down, catching Tzuyu in the air. "And that," she says, smiling. "Is why you are no match for  _me._ " 

 

Chaeyoung goes back to the floor and places Tzuyu there. 

 

"You're really good, Chaeng," Tzuyu groans. "Wow. I couldn't control my powers for quite a few years." 

 

Chaeyoung shrugs. "I think its pretty easy." 

 

Momo gets up and enters the shield. "Can I verse you? I want to see if you have any chance against  _me."_

 

Chaeyoung giggles. "Sure." 

 

Tzuyu leaves the shield and sits next to Mina, who is watching anxiously. 

 

Momo smiles, readying herself in her spot. "3...2...1...GO!" 

 

Momo practically disapears, but Chaeyoung can see the semi-translucent figure of Momo as she runs around Chaeyoung. Concentrating, Chaeyoung finds Momo's frantic atoms and uses her powers to give her leg strength as she puts it forward and trips Momo. Momo goes flying, landing face first onto the padded ground. 

 

She groans and gets up. "No fair! You can see me without actually seeing me!" 

 

Chaeyoung laughs. "Sorry, Momo." 

 

"Again!" Momo screams, dispearing. 

 

This time, Momo's figure is invinisible to the eye and Chaeyoung struggles to find Momo's atoms. Quickly thinking, Chaeyoung uses her powers to put a barrier around her similar to the one around the training room. After a couple of seconds, she finally sees Momo running towards her. She squints her eyes, praying in her mind that the shield will work. 

 

It does. 

 

Momo flies back into the wall again with a loud "THUMP!" 

 

"Owwwwwwww...." Momo cries. "I haven't gotten beaten in  _forever!"_

 

Chaeyoung smirks. "You're no match for me!" 

 

Momo groans. "Apparently so." 

 

Chaeyoung helps Momo get up. Mina and Tzuyu both enter the ring. 

 

"Do you want to try me again?" Mina asks. "I want to see if you are better already." 

 

Chaeyoung shrugs. "Sure. Momo count us down." 

 

The two other girls leave the ring and find a seat. 

 

"3...2...1...GO!" 

 

Mina quickly sends a blast flying towards Chaeyoung, but Chaeyoung whips it away, making it blow up on the wall to the right of her. She jumps back, making a bigger distance between her and Mina. Mina uses this distance to attempt to take over Chaeyoung's mind. Now blind, Chaeyoung uses her powers to try to be able to see everything by sensing the atoms. 

 

She can sense another blast coming towards her and quickly jumps to the right and shoots it back at Mina. She hears Mina growl to herself after the blast hits her. Mina begins to take over her body even more. She looses her sense of hearing and feels completely blocked out from the world. 

 

She feels dead. 

 

Chaeyoung, now terrified, continues to use her powers to sense the room around her, dodging Mina's dozens of blasts a second. She feels a sharp pain in her back and collapses to the ground face forward. 

 

Now she feels completely dead. 

 

Chaeyoung is fighting back tears. Why is Mina going to far? Still, she uses her powers to create another barrier around herself. She can sense Mina's blasts bounding on the barrier repeatedly. 

 

She continues to fight her tears. She  _wants_ to get up and tell Mina to stop and that she surrenders, but she's completely down. Her minds begins to race and pound as she frantically fills her mind with her fear practically praying Mina will stop. 

 

_Mina stop. This is going too far and I'm so scared._

 

She thinks for a moment and then she gets an idea. 

 

Chaeyoung takes a deep breath and attempts to find the atoms outside of her protective bubble. It takes her a bit, but she manages to find Mina. She feels the blasts stop on her bubble and she knows for sure she has Mina pinned against the wall like she had done yesterday. 

 

Unable to move, speak, hear, and feel every part of her body she lets go of Mina. She lets go of her tears. She releases the black bubble around her, revealing the mess Mina caused. 

 

The tears form a small puddle near Chaeyoung's face. 

 

Very very slowly, she regains the things Mina had taken from her. 

 

She hears Mina's muffled voice saying things that she can't understand. 

 

She inhales, trying to calm herself down, but its no use. 

 

Mina's muffled voice continues as Chaeyoung uses her regained strength to get up. She still can't see; there's just darkness surrounding her.

 

Finally Chaeyoung hears something she can understand. "Chaeyoung? Chaeyoung?" 

 

She doesn't know who's saying it, yet she wants to. 

 

She feels someone's soft hand touch her face and pull her close. 

 

"Can you hear me?" the voice asks calmly. "Chaeyoung, can you hear me?" 

 

Chaeyoung buries her face into the person's chest, letting herself cry as much as she pleases.

 

Minutes later, she pulls back and opens her eyes. Its Mina. She's never been happier to see Mina. 

 

"Y-you..." Chaeyoung's voice cracks as she collapses back into Mina's chest. 

 

"You won, Chaeyoung," Mina whimpers. "I tried so hard to throw everything I could at you, yet you won." 

 

Chaeyoung almost laughs. "But if we were at the battlefield, I would've died. I was completely defenseless." 

 

Mina shakes her head. "If you killed me, the affect on your brain would've just gone away and you would've been able to get back up and fight." 

 

Chaeyoung smiles. "Your powers suck, by the way." 

 

"Imagine me seeing you fall face first onto the floor," Mina grumbles. "I wasn't trying to hurt you, but I was trying hard enough so that it could simulate what happens on the field." 

 

"Imagine  _feeling_ my face fall to the floor," Chaeyoung groans, rubbing her nose. "It hurt, man." 

 

Mina giggles. "Sorry, Chaengie. Are you okay?" 

 

Chaeyoung nods. "I'm fine. Worst comes to worse, I have a broken nose." 

 

"I'm sure nose casts are hot." 

 

"I could definitely rock one." 

 

"You could rock a trashcan, Chaeyoung." 

 

"I know, I know." 

 

"I'm serious." 

 

"Oh shut up, loser." 

 

"I'm your loser." 

 

"Shut  _up!"_

 

"C'mon, Chaeyoung just admit it! You like me soooo much." 

 

Chaeyoung laughs. "Maybe." 

 

"How about..." Mina thinks for a moment and then continues. "How about we go out for dinner tonight after we're done with work." 

 

Chaeyoung smiles. "I'd love that." 

 

Mina smiles back. "Cool." 

 

Jihyo walks into the room, smiling. "I saw the battle from the video camera." 

 

Mina and Chaeyoung's eyes both widen. "T-there are cameras in here?" 

 

"Nope," Jihyo giggles. "I used my vision to see you too. That was one hell of a battle and Chaeyoung won under all those conditions. I mean...wow." 

 

Chaeyoung smiles. "That's what Mina said." 

 

"I'm serious," Jihyo says. "Mina is our best fighter and all of us could never do what you did." 

 

"Thanks, Jihyo." 

 

"I thought since Mina is...like...completely in love with you," Sana says. "That she would go easy on you, but...she looked like she was planning on murdering you for real." 

 

"I really thought that too and I was going to intervene, but Jihyo walked in and said you were fine," Tzuyu adds. 

 

Momo nods. "Now I feel a lot better about loosing to you, considering how you even are alive right now." 

 

"I wasn't going to kill her!" Mina yells. "I was just showing her how intense and scary battles can get." 

 

Chaeyoung nods. "And I broke down like a baby." 

 

Chaeyoung notices Jeongyeon walk in the room. "Hey, all!" she yells. "What's happening here? Is Chaeng hurt?" 

 

Everyone shakes their head. 

 

"Just freaking  _epic!"_ Sana shouts. 

 

Jeongyeon laughs. "How so?" 

 

"She beat Mina when she was blue!" Jihyo shouts. "She was  _full_ blue!" 

 

" _Full?"_ Jeongyeon shouts. "How...h-how!?" 

 

"What's full blue?" Chaeyoung asks Jihyo. 

 

"Oh, right, you couldn't see her," Jihyo responds, nodding. "When she is really going at someone or something with her powers, she begins to turn blue. Usually, she only ends up with her eyes blue, but the blue was  _all_ around her. That was her using her powers to basically its greatest potential." 

 

Chaeyoung's eyes widen. "Whoa." 

 

Mina nods. "I've never met someone who beat me when I'm full blue." 

 

Chaeyoung smiles. "Then it just makes me even more special." 

 

"Well..." Jeongyeon begins. "As praise for defeating Mina..." she says sarcastically. "...you can all start getting ready for work! The cafe opens in thirty minutes." 

 

All of the girls groan, making their way out of the training room and into their rooms. 

 

* * *

 

 

"...and then you put the tray on this table for Momo and Dahyun to come get," Mina finishes. 

 

Chaeyoung nods. "Easy enough, I guess." 

 

"It is easy," Mina says. "Tzuyu will be there the whole time to help you if you need anything." 

 

Chaeyoung nods. "Am I like...an official waiter now? I thought I was a designer."

 

Mina laughs. "Jeongyeon said to me that she needs to you to be active in the cafe. We only have nine people to run an  _entire_ Cafe, so we need you to do stuff too." 

 

Chaeyoung groans. "This is going to suck. I did  _not_ imagine myself waiting a bunch of impatient, smelly, annoying-" 

 

"Excuse me?" a voice says from behind. 

 

Embarrassed, Chaeyoung turns around, smiling. "How may we help you?" Chaeyoung asks, her voice cracking awkwardly.

 

"Can I order a coffee?" the girls asks. 

 

"Whoop...that's me," Mina says. She kisses Chaeyoung. "I gotta get to work now, so I'll see you tonight." 

 

Chaeyoung smiles. "Okay. See you later." 

 

Chaeyoung leaves the Barista stand and finds her place next to Tzuyu. 

 

"What's up?" Chaeyoung asks, resting her body against the wall. 

 

Tzuyu shrugs. "Not much. The Cafe closes early today, so luckily we'll have a bit more time to train." 

 

Chaeyoung nods. "Who would I go up against?" 

 

Tzuyu turns to Chaeyoung. "Probably two people." 

 

"Oh." 

 

Tzuyu laughs. "You managed to take down Mina, Chaeng. I'm pretty sure you can handle two of us." 

 

"Okay, but I was completely dead to the world when I fought Mina." 

 

"Yes, but you still beat her." 

 

"But if there was more than one person-" 

 

"You could have done what you did to Mina to the both of them. Its simple, Chaeng. Your abilities are a lot better than everyone else's somehow and you could take down Mina on  _full_ blue. None of us could do that, even when we all fought her at the same time."

 

Chaeyoung sighs in defeat. 

 

Jihyo pops her head out of the kitchen door. "Hey, Chaeyoung!" she yells. "Come here real quick." 

 

Chaeyoung nods and runs to the kitchen to meet Jihyo. 

 

"Hey, Jihyo, what do you need?" Chaeyoung asks. 

 

Jihyo sighs. "I've been thinking...and I need you to train today. I was just talking to Jeong and she agreed that your safety is more important than the ratings of our Cafe." 

 

Chaeyoung nods. "Isn't everyone working though?" 

 

"Yeah, but you don't need to fight someone in order to figure out your powers." 

 

Chaeyoung nods again. "Should I go now? Alone?" 

 

Jihyo laughs. "I can come with you if you'd like." 

 

Chaeyoung smiles. "What about your work, though? Won't Jeongyeon murder you?" 

 

"Well..." she sighs. "Yeah...even though I'm the leader, it doesn't mean Jeong won't go berserk. I could try to convince her to let me if you'd like." 

 

"I'll go with Chaeyoung," Mina says, popping her head through the kitchen doors. "I could hear you guys from my post." 

 

Chaeyoung's face brightens up at the sight of Mina. "What about the stand?" 

 

Mina shrugs. "I'm sure Tzuyu would want to be the Barista for a day. She's the one that taught me what I know." 

 

Jihyo nods. "I'm sure Jeongyeon will understand the shift in jobs. You too go start training then. See you guys later!" Jihyo waves to them and exits the kitchen. 

 

Chaeyoung and Mina make their way to the door to their home. Both of them are confused and poke random buttons and knobs until Dahyun comes from behind them. 

 

"The password is 1234," Dahyun says. 

 

Another Dahyun comes up from behind that Dahyun. "And you need to press the 'ok' button or it doesn't work." 

 

Startled, Chaeyoung falls back onto the door. She turns to Mina. 

 

"W-what...a-am I going insane or are there t-two Dahyuns?" Chaeyoung croaks, holding onto the door behind her tightly. 

 

Mina laughs. "Dahyun can clone herself. She does it a lot during work since it helps a lot with preparing the food faster." 

 

Chaeyoung nods, calming down slightly. "So where's the actual Dahyun?" 

 

The Dahyun closest to Mina laughs. "Don't tell her we said this, but she's taking a nap back down in our house." 

 

The other Dahyun giggles.

 

Chaeyoung laughs uncomfortably and turns to the door to puts in the code. She clicks the number and then presses the 'ok' button. The door falls slightly forward and clicks. Chaeyoung walks down the stairs and shivers. The air in the basement is quite a lot colder than the air in the Cafe. Mina and Chaeyoung find their way to the training room and enter the shield. 

 

"Sooooo...how exactly do I practice my powers?" Chaeyoung asks, sitting down on the floor. Mina sits down beside her.

 

Mina smiles. "Well...you  _could_ practice them on me." 

 

"I've already made you float and pinned you against a wall. Twice." 

 

"No. I mean really used it on me. You can force me to do things as well, Chaeyoung." 

 

Chaeyoung sighs. "Fine." 

 

Chaeyoung gets up and looks down at Mina. Mina is surprised when she gets up and starts waving her hands in the air like a big doofus. 

 

"So you can already do that," Mina mumbles. "How are you so good at your powers?" 

 

Chaeyoung shrugs. "It just happens naturally." 

 

Mina groans and falls back onto the floor. "Mine were  _sooooo_ hard to learn." 

 

"Then..." Chaeyoung giggles. "...be jealous of my powers, loser. You're madly in love with the only person that can defeat you." 

 

Mina giggle and wraps her arms around Chaeyoung, embracing her tightly. "I would do anything to make you happy, Chaengie."

 

"And you're madly in love with me." 

 

"That too." 

 

Chaeyoung smiles mischievously. "Say it out loud." 

 

Mina giggles, burying her face into Chaeyoung's chest. "What if I don't?" 

 

Chaeyoung purses her lips. "Then..." her mischievous smile continues. "...we'll just be friends." 

 

Mina pulls away from Chaeyoung, almost horrified by the comment. "You would never!" 

 

"You're right," Chaeyoung admits, sighing. "I'll stop if you aren't ready to say it." 

 

Mina smiles, leaning closer to Chaeyoung's ear. "I love you," she whispers. It sends chills down Chaeyoung's spine and she blushes. "I am _completely_ in love with you." 

 

Chaeyoung's face turns even more red. "Really?" 

 

"One hundred percent." 

 

"Wow." 

 

"What about you?" 

 

Chaeyoung smiles, taking a deep breath to calm herself down. "I love you too, Mina." 

 

"Um...so...can we have 'the talk' then?" 

 

"What's that?" 

 

"Like...I...uh...well..." Mina's voice breaks off into silence. 

 

"You...what?" 

 

"I'll...I'll tell you tonight. Never mind." 

 

Chaeyoung groans. "Why do I need to wait?" 

 

"It needs to be under special circumstances." 

 

"Whyyyyy? You aren't proposing!" 

 

"Says who?" 

 

"Says common sense, stupid." 

 

"Okay, well just so you know I  _was_ going to propose but now I'm  _not._ " 

 

"I'm sure you were." 

 

Mina laughs. "I was! I just couldn't afford a ring in such circumstances, so-" 

 

"Oh? So you'll propose using a plastic fork?" 

 

Mina's laughter continues as she pulls out a random piece of paper from her back pocket. "No! I'll be proposing with this old piece of paper. Chaeyoung will you-" 

 

"Oh nothing says 'I love you' more than a..." Chaeyoung takes the paper from Mina's pocket and reads it. "...receipt for...a...queen...sized...bed." 

 

Mina quickly grabs it from Chaeyoung's hand and puts it back in her pocket. 

 

"What is the bed for?" Chaeyoung asks, but she already knows the answer.

 

"W-well...I figured...to buy it...because...we've already  _slept_ together and...and I figured we might as well have it, you know?" 

 

_But why?_

 

Mina continues. "Look I'm sorry. I know we haven't talked about our situation, but-" 

 

"Our relationship isn't just a  _situation,_ Mina.." 

 

"I know it's not a situation, Chaeyoung. I didn't mean it like that. What I meant was that...I really really really love you and I  _want_ to be able to cuddle you at night and to be able to kiss you goodnight and good morning, not just look at you from across the room." 

 

"But we aren't even official yet, Mina." 

 

"I know we aren't." 

 

"So then lets discuss this." 

 

"What's there to discuss? I love you and you love me! Unless..." Mina's face grows sad. "you just said that you love me not to hurt my feelings." 

 

"I  _do_ love you. I love you with my entire heart and soul and I _do_ want to be able to show you somehow." 

 

Mina sighs. "But there isn't anything to discuss, though." 

 

"There is only the  _biggest factor in a relationship!"_

 

"What?" 

 

"We aren't even  _girlfriends!"_

 

"W-well I know that." 

 

"Why are we even fighting about this right now?" Chaeyoung mutters, getting up. "This is so stupid. We've only known each other since Saturday, why am I even rushing this?" 

 

"Because you want this." 

 

"I  _do_ want this, but..." Chaeyoung groans. "But am I _ready_ for it?" 

 

"Well...we've slept together. Isn't that a big factor in whether or not you're ready to become official?" 

 

"I guess, yeah. I was ready for that and I enjoyed having you by my side." 

 

Mina's face saddens as she looks to the ground. "We can just take this slower if you'd like. Baby steps." 

 

Chaeyoung falls onto the floor in front of Mina and raises Mina's head by her chin to face her. "But I love you." 

 

Mina fails to smile and Chaeyoung pulls Mina into a hug as reaction. 

 

"I don't want to take baby steps. I'm happy with you and I  _want_ to be with you," Chaeyoung whispers.

 

"So why are you freaking out?" 

 

"If you were in my mind, you'd know." 

 

Mina nods. "I surprised you and-" 

 

"I didn't think you  _really_ thought the same way." 

 

"So why yell at me?" 

 

"Perhaps...a nervous reaction?" 

 

Mina laughs. "I'm in love with a complete psychopath."

 

"Your problem not mine." 

 

Mina smiles. "I could always just take your mind over and make you my unconscious slave for the rest of your existence. That will surely solve that issue." 

 

Chaeyoung's face goes pale. "And I'm in love with someone who thinks about turning me into their slave. Great." 

 

"So we're both insane. That's cool." 

 

Chaeyoung falls backwards onto the ground, slamming the backside of her head on the padded flooring. 

 

"I'm sorry for snapping," Chaeyoung mutters. "I'm just...stressed." 

 

Mina nods and lays beside Chaeyoung. "I don't mean to put any more pressure on you by buying the bed...I just got it because I thought that you might want it as well." 

 

"I do want it." 

 

"But we aren't even official." 

 

"Correct." 

 

"Does it seem...wrong for you to sleep with someone who is just strictly 'more than a friend' to you?" 

 

Chaeyoung shakes her head, laughing lightly to herself. "Mina, we had sex already. We're transitioning more towards a more serious relationship." 

 

Mina nods. "I know that, but does it seem wrong to you to rush us this way?" 

 

"I...I don't know." 

 

"Do you think we're rushing?" 

 

"I think we're developing. We are like...perfect fitting puzzle pieces." 

 

"So we're fine then? Here?" 

 

"I'm not sure. If you'd like to take the next step...then lets take the next step," Chaeyoung turns toward Mina. "I want to do anything if its with you." 

 

Mina smiles and leans her forehead on Chaeyoungs. "So lets take the next step." 

 

"But...I don't want to hurt you. What if it doesn't work and-" 

 

"Chaeyoung, I would be honored for you to break my heart into tiny little pieces." 

 

"What about days I'm insecure and upset because life just doesn't seem to be moving along right?" 

 

"I'll be there to catch you when you fall." 

 

"What about if I yell at you?" 

 

"Chaeyoung-" 

 

"I'm serious, Mina. You're the last person I want to hurt. What if we don't work and then things are awkward? You guys are all I have left now." 

 

Mina nods. "I guess I understand that." 

 

"What would we do then?" 

 

"Why are you so concerned about hurting me?" Mina asks, taking Chaeyoung's hand. 

 

"I've hurt others just to get where I am," Chaeyoung replies, squeezing Mina's hand tightly. "I don't want to hurt you too." 

 

"Are you just telling me that you like me to take advantage of my power?" Mina asks, her voice still calm. "Are you trying to join us to be able to give Emperor exactly what he wants?" 

 

"No." 

 

"Then shut up and stop worrying about if you'll hurt me. You _can't_ hurt me, Chaeyoung." 

 

"What about if Emperor gets me?" 

 

"He won't-" 

 

"What if he  _does."_

 

"He won't." 

 

"But if he does." 

 

"I'll kill him myself," Mina replies, her voice now angry. "I'll kill him eight times over and burn down everything he's ever created." 

 

"You hate him, don't you?" 

 

Mina nods. "With a passion." 

 

"Why?" 

 

"He hurts my friends. If he hurt you too...I'd break. If he killed you..." Mina's eyes begin to tear up. "I'd be lost." 

 

Chaeyoung squeezes Mina's hand. "But why me?" 

 

"Because you are you. I love you." 

 

Chaeyoung manages a weak smile. "But why?" 

 

"You help." 

 

"With what?" 

 

"Feeling human again. You don't treat me like I'm a superhero and you don't ask me to cheat on stuff by using my powers like the other girls do. You genuinely make me happy and comfortable with being myself. You're also the most amazing, beautiful, creative person I've ever met. So...hell yeah I'd fall for you." 

 

"Jesus christ, Mina." 

 

"I know. I'm a mushy girlfriend." 

 

"Girlfriend?" 

 

"Sorry. Forgot." 

 

"No...it...it has a nice ring to it." 

 

Mina's face lights up. "Excuse me?" 

 

"N-no I was just-" 

 

"Did you just say that girlfriend has a nice ring to it...as in-" 

 

"Okay, okay. I like you. I like you a lot, actually. We connect soooo easily and I've never met anyone like you, so yeah I think girlfriend has a nice ring to it." 

 

"Are...are you-" 

 

"I'm asking you to be my girlfriend. Yeah, we're in an odd situation. We both have powers, I fake committed suicide and basically quit my family, we're both wanted by a murderer with powers,  _and_ don't even get me started with the fact that I live under the  _basement_ of a Cafe with girls I only met a couple days ago. I love you and if I'm being honest, I've already determined that, if possible, I want to spend my entire life with you." 

 

"I'm...I'm speechless...I was going to ask you tonight when we went out, but apparently that's off my to do list." 

 

"So is it a yes?" 

 

"Yes with no hesitation whatsoever," Mina gushes, pulling Chaeyoung closer to her and holding her tightly. "I love you." 

 

"I love you more." 

 

" _I_ love you more." 

 

"Can you both just _shut up!_ " a voice groans from the doorway. "I could feel your affection from upstairs," they pause and laugh. "so you both decided that instead of training Chaeyoung just in case she ends up in a life or death situation, you could cuddle on the floor and try to figure out who truly loves the other more?" 

 

Chaeyoung curses to herself, quickly sitting up to look at the person. Dahyun. "I'm perfectly fine with my powers." 

 

"Have you versed more than one at a time?" 

 

"No." 

 

"Then you aren't ready." 

 

Mina grumbles to herself before butting in. "She has complete control of her powers already, Dahyun. We'll make her fight two people when she's mentally ready.  _My_ powers scared her enough, so we need to give her a break." 

 

"If someone burst through the door right now saying Emperor was here, would she be ready, Mina? Would she  _really_ be ready to avoid mental attacks from him and his men?" 

 

"W-well-" 

 

"I know it seems like we have time and we can take a break, but you know that isn't true. Ellis proves that," Dahyun mutters and leaves the room with a stomp. 

 

Chaeyoung gulps. "Who's Ellis?" 

 

"A former member." 

 

"I thought no one died before, though?" 

 

"He didn't  _die._ We don't think at least. Emperor just...stole him from us..." Mina face falls. "...from me." 

 

"Do you..." Chaeyoung can't complete her sentence. 

 

"Not like that, no," Mina replies. "He's my brother." 

 

"Why would Emperor want him?" 

 

"So I couldn't learn the true potential of my powers." 

 

"I thought-" 

 

"Don't tell the girls what I'm about to say, okay?" 

 

Chaeyoung nods in response. 

 

"Emperor is my father." 


	8. Secrets, Secrets, and more Secrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chaeyoung learns the darker truth of Mina and the real reason why she and Ellis had joined the NewPorts before.

(cont. from Chapter 7) 

 

"H-he's..." Chaeyoung almost chokes on her words. "...Emperor...is-" 

 

"My father," Mina responds, her face hardening. "He's the reason I'm who I am today." 

 

"B-but...how...you...what?" 

 

"He stole Ellis and I when we were really little. He knew we had these special genes we inherited from our mom, so he tested and tested and tested..." Mina's eyes begin to tear up. "He stole our childhood from us, locking us up in our prisons and constantly giving us these chemicals and...and starving us to death when he thought it would help. He controlled our every being and there was no point of opposing because he'd just use his abilities and beat us up until we agreed to doing what he wanted. He gave us all of these toxins, saying it'll make us powerful...but...we just shut down. He gave us more chemicals and after...five or so years of complete torture, we had powers. He forced us to train and to find reasons to hate everything and everyone that he exposed that were against taking over the world." 

 

"So the other seven girls?" 

 

Mina nods. "He had convinced hundreds...maybe even thousands to allow him to put chemicals in them and to basically kill them. Our friends, though, were forced like Ellis and I were. Though...now that I think about it...if you don't know about this how'd you get your powers?" 

 

Chaeyoung shrugs. "I didn't even know I had them until we met." 

 

"That makes no sense..." Mina's face turns into a horrified expression. "...who was the doctor you gave birth to you?" 

 

"Uhhh....Doctor...Myoui?" 

 

Mina's face continues to grow with horror. "That's my father. He must've exposed you to the chemicals and planned to find you in the future to get you to work for him." 

 

"So you did save me then." 

 

"I guess I did. Is this...changing anything?" 

 

Chaeyoung shakes her head. "I...I...just don't know what to say. I mean...you're the daughter of a guy that's trying to marry me. " 

 

"Well," Mina whispers, leaning her head on Chaeyoung's. "I can tell you the rest of the story if you'd like." 

 

"O-okay." 

 

"The others escaped and Ellis and I were caught red handed attempting to escape, so our father took it to the next level and turned us basically to slaves. He constantly trained us, tortured us, treated us like we were _trash_. Years after the girls had escaped, when I was around fifteen, our father sent us on a mission to become friends with the girls and turn on them. We were sent and I did my mission until...we got the signal that it was time to turn on them. It was then that I realized that this was my chance to prove that I'm not who my father wanted me to be, so I didn't do it. I told them that I could sense the attackers around them and Ellis and I helped them fight them off. But..." Mina's eyes tear up. "Ellis, being that he was the most powerful, had killed the majority of the men, so our father came out himself and...and took him. He brainwashed him and just...took him." 

 

"And you haven't ever heard from him since?" 

 

Mina shakes her head. "He's either dead, a slave, or my father's right hand man." 

 

"Wow," Chaeyoung mutters. "That's just nasty." 

 

"I think he's ranked, since Ellis had really amazing powers. He was one of the few of the subjects to have multiple powers at once." 

 

"That's pretty cool." 

 

"Yeah, but...but bad on Ellis' side." 

 

"How so?" 

 

"Ellis couldn't control certain powers and I'm sure my father took advantage of that." 

 

Chaeyoung's face falls. "This hurts you doesn't it?" 

 

Mina nods slowly. "A lot, but I trust Ellis and I know he's fighting and even though its been years since I saw him, I know the fighter he was and I know that whatever he's doing, no matter if its plotting our deaths or tracking you, he's doing it because it'll help him be free." 

 

Chaeyoung leans back to face Mina and places both of her hands on Mina's shoulders. "Ellis will be fine. In fact, I'll make it my personal mission to find him when we invade Emperor's base." 

 

Mina smiles. "Thank you, Chaengie, but I don't want you to get hurt. I couldn't ask that much of you-" 

 

"Too bad. I'm doing it. It's my job as your girlfriend to make sure that you're happy." 

 

Mina blushes. "Girlfriend," her face turns even more red as her smile grows wider. "you're my girlfriend." 

 

"I am," Chaeyoung replies and kisses Mina gently on the nose. "and I'm honored to be able to call you mine." 

 

Mina wraps her arms around Chaeyoung's neck, squeezing her gently. "Thank you," she whispers. 

 

"For what?" 

 

"For finding your way into my life." 

 

Chaeyoung pulls away, connecting her eyes with Mina's. "Thank you for letting me into it." 

 

Mina plants a soft kiss on Chaeyoung's lips.

 

_My world._

 

_That's what she is._

 

"Mina?" 

 

"Mhm?" 

 

"Are you in my head right now?" 

 

"No." 

 

"Go in it." 

 

Mina nods. "I'm in," she laughs quietly. "quit it with your fantasies." 

 

"Fanta-oh...OH!" Chaeyoung's face turns bright red. "T-that's not...I mean...I was..." Chaeyoung sighs. "...nevermind." 

 

"No! I want to know what you were going to do!" 

 

Chaeyoung sighs again. "Its too late now."

 

Mina leans back and lays on the ground. 

 

Chaeyoung pulls her back up, smiling. "No naps. Now that we're done with our little conversation break, let's train." 

 

Mina groans. "Okay, but help me up." 

 

Chaeyoung smiles and she uses her powers to lift Mina up to the ground and also uses her powers to help her stand up. 

 

"Wow...its cool having a telekinetic girlfriend," Mina giggles. 

 

Chaeyoung laughs. "And you're lazy as hell, so it works out." 

 

Mina smiles, watches Chaeyoung as she makes her way into the shield. 

 

"Should I do a punching bag?" Chaeyoung yells. 

 

"Sure," Mina replies, finding her way next to Chaeyoung. "Just find gloves so you don't break you hand." 

 

Chaeyoung groans. "I'm not going to have gloves on the..." Chaeyoung's eyes widen. "...h-holy shit. I'll...I'll be right back, Mina." 

 

Chaeyoung bolts out of the training room and finds her way to her bedroom. 

 

Mina runs in, out of breath. Confused, she comes closer to Chaeyoung to examine the things on her hands. "What are those?" she asks. 

 

"I built them back in high school after I had found this...glowing rock. I had tested the rock like eight hundred times before I realized it had the...with the characteristics of like...a battery. At the time, I was building gloves that could help with the nerve systems in people and help them become stronger and I decided to put the rock in it. Is...is it possible these gloves are what gave me my powers?" 

 

Mina nods. "Maybe. Can I...can I see the rock? It might be..." Mina's eye widen as she notices the rock within the gloves. "...holy fucking shit." 

 

"Bad or good?" 

 

"You just gave us the second piece of the crystal." 

 

"P-pardon?" 

 

"This rock is one of the pieces of  _our_ crystal. We've been looking for this for like...two years." 

 

"So what does that mean, though?" 

 

"We have  _another piece!"_ Mina freezes for a moment and then darts out of the room. 

 

"YES! I'M SERIOUS, DAHYUN!" Chaeyoung can hear Mina scream. "GET THE GIRLS!" 

 

She hears Dahyun running up the stairs and the door to the cafe opening. There are muffled screams coming from the kitchen and feet pounding on the floor. 

 

"COME ON GUYS!!!" 

 

All of the girls come tumbling into Chaeyoung and Mina's bedroom, all pushing to see the gloves. 

 

"You are sure its our crystal?" Jeongyeon asks, her voice higher than usual. "We better not have closed the shop early for no reason." 

 

"I'm  _positive!_ And Chaeyoung even managed to put it into gloves, which means that we have an even  _bigger_ advantage!" Mina answers, her face bright. 

 

Jihyo runs her hand through her hair. "I can't believe its right there...I mean...we've been on countless missions just to see if they had it and we've all suffered so much...and...and here it is!" Her face brightens. 

 

"But who will use it?" Nayeon asks. 

 

"I can't make it disapear with me, so I'm out," Sana replies. 

 

"What about Dahyun? Can't she clone herself with the glove?" Momo adds. 

 

Dahyun shakes her head. "It won't have the powers." 

 

"What about Tzuyu?" Chaeyoung asks. 

 

Tzuyu shakes her head. "I'll break them if I try to attack anyone." 

 

"Mina?" 

 

Mina laughs. "I don't need them, trust me." 

 

"Jihyo?" 

 

Jihyo shakes her head. "I already have enough powers." 

 

"Momo?" 

 

Momo shakes her head. "I might break them when I go fast and I can't risk loosing the crystal." 

 

"Nayeon or Jeong?" 

 

They both shake their head in harmony. 

 

"What about Chaeyoung? That could be good." 

 

"I mean..." Chaeyoung shrugs. "I guess so." 

 

"What do they even do?" Sana asks, eyeing the gloves curiously. 

 

"I designed them to increase nerve activity in the arms so that the person wearing them would be able to heal from nerve damage by simply putting on gloves," Chaeyoung answers. 

 

Momo giggles. "Mina, your girlfriend is a genius." 

 

Chaeyoung nods. "I am." 

 

 

Mina giggles. "She really is." 

 

Sana's face brightens up and she pulls Mina and Chaeyoung into a tight half-hugs. "So you two made it official?" 

 

Chaeyoung smiles and her cheeks turn a light pink as she faces Mina. 

 

"Yeah," Mina responds. 

 

"Who asked who?" Tzuyu asks, an excitement in her eyes that Chaeyoung has never seen before. 

 

"I asked her," Chaeyoung responds, her voice proud. 

 

"Are you guys going to stay in separate beds though?" Nayeon asks. 

 

Mina and Chaeyoung share a quick glance before Chaeyoung responds. "No." 

 

Mina's face lights up at Chaeyoung answer. 

 

"But..." Chaeyoung continues. "...this isn't the topic that is deciding the fate of the world." 

 

Jihyo groans, which surprises Chaeyoung. "We have the crystal, Chaeyoung. We have time." 

 

All of the girls nod. 

 

"So I'm the only single one left?" Jihyo asks, disappointed. 

 

Momo shakes her head. "You have Ellis." 

 

Mina's face turns red. 

 

"I thought we decided we wouldn't talk about that," Jihyo grumbles. 

 

Chaeyoung smiles. "I want to know!" 

 

Mina's face turns even redder. 

 

"Ellis and Jihyo were sort of..." Dahyun giggles into Momo's shoulder before continuing. "...totally in love." 

 

Jihyo groans and covers her face with her hands. "We totally were not!" 

 

"No!" Mina shouts. "You were! It was so awkward when Ellis and I joined you guys because the second he met you he just turned to me and looked like he had saw a ghost and goes 'I'm in love with that Jihyo.' Oh my god it was horrible when he insisted you two train together." 

 

"Did he really?" Jihyo asks, her eyes now wider. "How come you never told me?" 

 

"I just...I just never got the opportunity. I had to convince him otherwise, which he hated me for, because I didn't think it was our priority to date." 

 

"Yet here you are, completely head over heals for the shortest college girls we've ever met," Jeongyeon shouts, her voice cracking and her falling back into a loud (and snort filled) laughter. 

 

"I'm not a college girl  _anymore!"_ Chaeyoung grumbles. "I don't even have a phone." 

 

_"Since when are you nineteen?"_

 

_I meant eighteen sorry._

 

Mina and Jihyo exchange glances. Jihyo nods. 

 

"She's our baby!" Sana shouts, pulling Chaeyoung into a tight hug. "Baby Chaengie!" 

 

Tzuyu shakes her head. "But I'm the youngest! Aren't I?" 

 

"We're both nineteen, but your birthday is after mine," Chaeyoung responds, hitting her legs with the heavy gloves on her hands. "So yes, you're the youngest." 

 

Tzuyu nods proudly. "See? I'm the baby." 

 

Sana giggles, pulling her girlfriend into a hug and kissing her cheek. "Don't get jealous, cutie." 

 

Tzuyu's face turns red, embarrassed of her girlfriend's flirtiness. "Sanata! What did I say about flirting with the girls around!" 

 

Sana rolls her eyes. "It makes you embarrassed, I know, but you're cute when you're embarrassed, so I'll never stop." She kisses Tzuyu again on the cheek.

 

Mina giggles nervously, placing her hand flat on Chaeyoung's back. Chaeyoung feels butterflies in her stomach from Mina's touch. She loves it. 

 

Mina's face turns red. Chaeyoung knows that Mina was in her thoughts. 

 

 _Stupid, Mina._ She thinks, smiling.  _If you're always in my head, you'll know what I think about everything I do._

 

Mina's laughs to herself lightly.  _"But then I know what you love."_

 

_You._

 

Mina's smile grows wider and she moves her hand to Chaeyoung's hip farthest away from her to pull her closer. 

 

_"You see, the biggest advantage to my powers is that while they are all bickering and talking to each other, we can have our own conversations. They can't even make fun of us."_

 

_Advantages of a super human girlfriend._

 

Mina laughs. 

 

_"Advantages of having a girlfriend who isn't freaked out by the fact that I love being in her mind."_

 

_I like that you enjoy my thoughts. It helps you get to know me better._

 

_"Now I know you love my touch. I'll be sure to be more touchy then."_

 

Chaeyoung feels her cheeks grow hot. 

 

_Excuse me?_

 

Mina giggles and leans her head on Chaeyoung's head. 

 

_"I love that my touch makes you happy."_

 

_That sounds so sexual._

 

_"Perhaps I intended it to be that way."_

 

Chaeyoung huffs. 

 

_Pervert._

 

_"No...just a proper girlfriend."_

 

_You're so creepy._

 

_"But you love it."_

 

_Maybe._

 

"Can you guys quit mind flirting?" Jeongyeon snaps. "We can tell when you're talking to each other without your mouths, you know." 

 

Mina laughs. "We're just discussing..." 

 

"...battle strategies," Chaeyoung finishes. 

 

Jihyo laughs sarcastically. "How about you share them with us all then." 

 

Mina and Chaeyoung exchange glances. 

 

"Well...I was thinking since I have these gloves..." 

 

_"I could front line with Tzuyu."_

 

"I could front line with Tzuyu. I could rewire them to be like...armor. You know iron man? I could make it so they can come to me when I call them, that way I can also use my powers on the battlefield." 

 

_"Or I could even rewire them into fighting on their own?"_

 

"O-or I could even make it so they can be like rockets and take down the people without powers." 

 

_"What about making them into self changing armor?"_

 

"I could even make it so that the gloves can move itself and block punches and hits. I might only be eighteen, but I know quite a lot about engineering." 

 

Jihyo nods. "That's...really good. I'm surprised you weren't flirting or something." 

 

_"Another advantage of a mind freak girlfriend."_

"We are quite the power couple," Mina exclaims. "We've basically solved this whole thing by ourselves." 

 

_"I have more things you should know about my dad. The reason he wants to crystals is because its his weakness. If you could alter the gloves to be weapons and armor for everyone, we are guaranteed a win."_

 

_But do we have enough crystal? Enough time?_

 

_"We can stall as long as we'd like. As far as my dad is concerned, we've just all disappeared and you're dead."_

 

_But he'll find us soon enough._

 

_"We're completely invincible down here, Chaeng. He can't get us in a place he can't get in."_

 

Chaeyoung's face turns pale. 

 

"J-jihyo?" she manages to croak. 

 

"Yeah? Is everything okay?" Jihyo responds. 

 

"Can any of you do a brain scan to find any chips or..." Chaeyoung gulps. "...or clones." 

 

All of the girls freeze. 

 

"What? Why?" 

 

"Emperor might not be able to get his men into here, but...but he has shape shifters and they could...be us." 

 

"Wouldn't we notice if someone is acting odd?" 

 

"They could be mind controlling on us too, couldn't they?" 

 

Jihyo's mouth falls open as she turns away from Chaeyoung to look at the girls. 

 

_"Good call."_

 

Chaeyoung feels the tears well up in her eyes as she turns towards Mina. 

 

_You knew the whole time, didn't you?"_

 

Mina's face saddens.  _"Knew what?"_

 

"He's listening right now," Chaeyoung croaks. "I can feel it." 

 

"You can...feel it?" Tzuyu says, confused. 

 

"Well...I know it. Why else would we magically just begin to just expose everything. Who started this conversation?" Chaeyoung responds, wiping her eyes.  

 

"Mina did," Momo answers. "...but why is that important?" 

 

"She has a chip." 

 

"I have a what?" Mina's voice is confused and Chaeyoung knows its genuine.

 

"Ellis." 

 

Mina still doesn't comprehend what is happening. 

 

Jihyo covers her mouth in shock and curses quietly to herself. The rest of the girls do the same. 

 

"You can't keep secrets from people that already know the future," Chaeyoung croaks, her voice cracking at almost every word. "you can't hide everything from us," a tear runs down Chaeyoung's face. "...from me." 

 

_"Whatever you're doing-"_

 

"Get out of my head, Mina," Chaeyoung screams, holding her hands on the sides of her head. Its pounding. "G-get out." 

 

Mina grimaces. "What the hell are you saying, Chaeyoung? What did I do?" 

 

"You're a fucking monster, Mina," Chaeyoung screams, her voice lower than usual. "A MONSTER!" 

 

Jihyo grabs Chaeyoung before she can jump at Mina. All of the girls assist with holding her back as well. 

 

"Are the gloves on?" Tzuyu asks. 

 

Mina nods. "She turned them on before." 

 

"WHAT IS GOING ON?" Chaeyoung screams with all of her might. She begins to get light headed. 

 

"Stop blaming us for things," Mina whispers. "we knows this is hard, okay? Are you comprehending what I say?" 

 

"YOU'RE A MONSTER, MINA! I'M NOT GOING TO LISTEN TO A SINGLE WORD-" Chaeyoung slumps onto the ground. 

 

"He's out?" Jihyo asks. 

 

Mina nods. "Should be at least." 

 

Jihyo covers her face. "Where's Chaeyoung?" 

 

"I-isn't that Chaeyoung?" Momo asks, holding tightly onto Dahyun. "Why did you-" 

 

"It isn't Chaeyoung," Mina responds, her voice hurt. "It was the shape shifter. How long do you think she's been fake?" 

 

Jihyo shakes her head. "Not long. She was herself when I told her to train. I could sense it." 

 

"But then?" 

 

"When she ran out to get something. It changed." 

 

"To?" 

 

"The shifter." 

 

"So where's-" 

 

"G-GUYS?" a voice screams from another room. 

 

The all exchange glances before running out of the room and into Momo and Dahyun's. 

 

"GUYS! HELP? WHERE AM I?" the voice continues to scream. "HELP ME PLEASE I CAN'T BREATHE OR MOVE AND ITS SO FUCKING DARK!" 

 

"Our chest," Momo says, quickly running towards it. She clicks the buttons frantically, but it doesn't open. "Dahyun? The code?" 

 

"I didn't change it," Dahyun responds. 

 

"GUYS? IS THAT YOU? H-HELP ME PLEASE! I'M SO SCARED AND ITS SO DARK!" 

 

"But the code isn't working," Momo says. 

 

"Asshole," Mina grumbles. "Use your speed and do all the combinations." 

 

Momo nods. It takes a couple seconds of Momo's dashing fingers, but she gets in. 

 

Chaeyoung takes a huge gulp of air and practically jumps out of the chest. She falls onto the floor, her mascara covering her face and eyes puffy. 

 

Mina falls onto the floor beside her, pulling her close to her. 

 

"Chaeyoung, its okay," she whispers, rocking her lightly. "we have him." 

 

Chaeyoung continues to cry into Mina's shoulder. 

 

"I-it was s-so dark," she croaks. 

 

"What's with her and darkness?" Tzuyu whispers. 

 

Mina shrugs and the kisses Chaeyoung's cheek lightly. "Why were you so scared, Chaeng?" 

 

"T-the d-dark." 

 

"But why the dark?" 

 

She break down even more onto Mina. 

 

Mina nods, tuning into Chaeyoung's mind. 

 

She feels the tears well up in her eyes as she learns the past Chaeyoung never even seemed like she would have. 

 

She turns towards the girls. 

 

"She's been in the darkness for a while," Mina explains. "she has a tragic story going through her head and I'm not sure she would want me to-" 

 

"You can say it, Mina. They deserve to know." 

 

Mina nods, sniffling. "She was blind for most of her life." Mina's voice cracks. "she made the gloves wasn't for nerve help in the arms or legs for the paralyzed. It was designed to help her regain her sight. The crystal was something she had gotten from someone she doesn't know and when she put them in to see if it worked, she got everything back and more. Its where she got her powers, according to what I'm noticing in the change of 'luck' as Chaeyoung imagines it. She...she doesn't like the dark anymore because for the first fifteen years of her being, she had no clue what the world looked like. That's why she loves art and writing songs and stuff, because she can finally do it." 

 

"Why did you tell us before?" Momo asks, placing a sympathetic hand on Chaeyoung's back. "we would have warned you about Mina's powers and-" Momo stops short as she notices the tears now flowing from Mina's eyes. 

 

"Oh, Chaeyoung," Mina croaks, squeezing her tighter. "when I took away your sight when we were training before...I...I didn't know that's why you were crying, Chaengie. I'm so so so sorry!" 

 

Chaeyoung smiles weakly before looking up to respond to Mina. "You didn't know." 

 

"But I should have gone through your head to make sure you wouldn't have some reaction to it, but I was too concerned on going insane on you." 

 

"But you didn't and that's okay," Chaeyoung's smile becomes genuine. "I was able to cuddle up in your arms and that made everything a little more okay." 

 

Mina kisses Chaeyoung forehead lightly. "And then I was an idiot and I let you get captured by some idiot shapeshifter who decided that it would be funny to steal you and -" Mina growls as she looks up at Dahyun. "You FUCKING ASSHOLE!" 

 

"Why are you yelling at Dahyun?" Momo asks, now upset. 

 

Mina places Chaeyoung lightly onto the floor and launches herself on top of Dahyun, hitting and punching her until her entire face is a bloody mess. "THIS FUCKING ASSHOLE DECIDED TO TRANSFORM INTO DAHYUN AND USE HER POWERS TO GET US INTO THE BASEMENT AND KNOW WHAT WE WERE TALKING ABOUT!" 

 

"W-what?" Momo's voice cracks. "That isn't Dahyun?" 

 

Jihyo quickly gets up, startled. "But then who's Chaeyoung? Where's Dahyun?" 

 

Mina punches the Dahyun again, her jaw cracking. "Show yourself you bitch." 

 

Dahyun shakes her head. "I-I'm Dahyun!" 

 

Mina shakes her head. "As if. Show yourself." 

 

Dahyun shakes her head again. "I'm Dahyun!" 

 

"WE KNOW ITS YOU!" 

 

Dahyun laughs, laying her head on the ground. "And how do you explain the  _second_ shapeshifter out of no where?" 

 

"Because you shapeshifted into Dahyun and then  _somehow_ you must have some new ability and got her powers with it. Then you cloned yourself and transformed the second into Chaeyoung. To cover your tracks." 

 

"Explain how  _it is me!"_ Dahyun screams, her body shaking. 

 

"You were the only one in the house with us at that time and the only way you can get into the house is by being one of us. There  _was_ a third Dahyun upstairs, but her clones didn't know that because they saw you downstairs sleeping and assumed it was their original. You  _also_ heard everything I had told the real Chaeyoung, so you decided to clone her as well because then you'd get more information to tell your stupid master." 

 

"Well," she growls. "I guess you got me." 

 

Chaeyoung winces. "J-jihyo?" 

 

Jihyo quickly sits beside Chaeyoung. "Yes?" 

 

"My leg. It...it..." she winces again, her head falling back onto the ground. 

 

"AND YOU HURT CHAEYOUNG!" Mina screams, her face now dark. "YOU STUPID..." she punches the shapeshifter aside his head. "...FUCKING.." she slams her hand onto his forehead, resulting in a loud crack. "...DESTROYER!" 

 

He moans quietly to himself and then smiles, ignoring the blood forming in his mouth and now broken forehead. He forms back into his normal self. "Looks like you can be violent like y-your father." 

 

Mina's body shakes and she falls back. "Y-you..." the tears starting flowing again. "...you didn't just-" 

 

"I did. Have fun explaining this to your friends," he mutters, smiling proudly to himself. 

 

Mina, still in shock, just lays against Dahyun and Momo's bed. 

 

"M-mina?" Chaeyoung croaks, her hand reaching for her. 

 

Mina quickly scoots closer, lacing her fingers through Chaeyoung's. "Yes?" she responds. 

 

Chaeyoung winces in pain. "Is this how life is going to be until we take down Emperor? Secrets, fake identities, getting beat up, and beating up others?" 

 

Mina squeezes Chaeyoung's hand. "This hasn't happened before, so I don't know." 

 

Chaeyoung shakes her head in disbelief, but it quickly turns to horror as she shakes in pain again. "M-my leg." 

 

Mina can't even look down at Chaeyoung's leg. With just being in Chaeyoung's head for half a second, she knows this won't be an easy heal for Chaeyoung, even with her healing and telekinesis.

 

"You'll be okay, Chaeyoung. I-I can numb the pain if you'd like," Mina manages. 

 

Chaeyoung nods. "Please." 

 

Mina does exactly that and Chaeyoung's body eases up. Chaeyoung smiles at Mina. 

 

"I've never been so happy to be partially paralyzed. 

 

"Don't you idiots want to know where your little friend is?" the shape shifter mutters. 

 

Momo shakes her head, the real Dahyun tight in her arms. "No need." 

 

The shape shifter curses to himself. "Well...I guess I don't need to tell you my secret then." 

 

"It's Ellis," Mina says. "He's alive. My dad has him as a training slave, same thing as we were before we got out." 

 

"Aren't you going to tell them your secret, Ms. Myoui?" the shifter asks. "I think they'd like to know why your father sent you to come and join them." 

 

"Father?" Jihyo asks, turning to Mina. "What father? I thought you didn't have family besides Ellis?" 

 

Mina winces before responding. "Emperor...is my father." 

 

"W-what?" Tzuyu says. 

 

"He sent me to join you to kill you, but I refused the offer and my punishment was Ellis being taken I guess." 

 

"Why d-didn't you tell us before?" Jeongyeon snaps. "That could have helped us!" 

 

Mina groans. "I'm sorry, guys. I just don't enjoy that part of me. I don't like being his daughter, but what choice do I have?"

 

"We all have secrets we don't want to tell," Chaeyoung says. "its the same reason why I didn't tell you that I was blind. I didn't want it, but it happened."

 

"But this is different!" Jihyo snaps, angry. "We could've had an advantage against them! You could be his weakness!" 

 

Mina shakes her head, laughing. "My father doesn't have an weaknesses. He's cruel and he's selfish and all he wants is for everything to be under his control. If he cared about me, then maybe he wouldn't have ever forced me into being the freak I am." 

 

"Mina had her reasons, Jihyo," Jeongyeon says, putting her hand on Jihyo's shoulder. "it was her secret and it doesn't make anything different." 

 

"Have you even  _considered_ the fact that Mina was magically able to figure out who I was so quickly?" the shapeshifter mutters. "How did she know it was me who was Dahyun?" 

 

"Simple," Mina grumbles. "you were the only other one who was in the house with us when I was in the training room with Chaeyoung. Dahyun is the best person to transform into when you can steal their powers. I just needed to use common sense in order to figure out your failed plan." 

 

He laughs. "Did you ever consider that there's a possibility that even more of the girls could be clones? I know a lot about you all. In fact, I might even know everything." 

 

Mina smiles. "Of course you think you do," Mina turns towards the girls. "Mellow." 

 

"Farmers," they all respond in harmony. 

 

"Jelly?" 

 

"Cockroaches." 

 

Mina turns proudly back to the shapeshifter. "Fake members my ass. Now if you don't mind, I'd like you to just stay still so we can kill you." 

 

He growls. "You can kill me, Minari, but it won't help you escape from anything." 

 

Mina shakes her head. "It will actually. We'll just have one less threat." 

 

"Wait, Mina," Chaeyoung's small voice says from behind. 

 

Mina turns towards Chaeyoung. "Yes?" 

 

"Can I just say something to him before you...you know." 

 

Mina nods. "Go ahead." 

 

Mina pulls Chaeyoung onto her lap and props her so she can face the destroyer. 

 

"Okay," Chaeyoung begins. "I'm Chaeyoung. You're an idiot for messing with me. Just because I'm new and I'm not as aware as the other girls doesn't mean you need to pick on me. I've been through that already and quite honestly I think that even though you are all messed up in the head, you deserve what you're going to get. Just because we are all early twenty girls, doesn't mean we are weak. We aren't a force to reckon with. Mina is smart. Jihyo is smart. They caught on because I guess you just don't know me as well as you think you do. Stupidly, you thought I would blame anything on Mina. Even  _if_ Mina were to have a chip or if she really  _was_ a spy, I wouldn't just blurt it out. In fact, we have Jihyo who can literally  _sense_ everything and everyone around her," Chaeyoung smiles proudly. "you're just a tiny little ball of dust and we're so much bigger than you'll ever be." 

 

Mina wraps her arms around Chaeyoung's waist and leans her head on her shoulder. "And Chaeyoung would never  _ever_ accept my sexual comments, which is what gave it away for me." 

 

"They know each other too well for you to ever mess with us," Dahyun shouts. 

 

"I noticed how Dahyun was unusually protective over Momo," Mina adds. "And Jihyo noticed how Chaeyoung's expressions were different as well. We're top notch, shifter. So if you're listening Dad," Mina laughs. "I'd say just give up." 

 

The shifter groans to himself. "So I get taken down by a bunch of teenage girls?" 

 

Mina shakes her head. "Not teenage girls." 

 

"The NewPorts," Momo says. 

 

The shifter gulps. "So just do it already then! Take me out!" 

 

Tzuyu shakes her head, pushing Sana forward. "Didn't Sana want to fake murder someone?" 

 

Sana nods. "Well...yeah..." 

 

"Well, love," Tzuyu whispers. "how about you actually murder him?" 

 

"You mean-" 

 

"Phase him." 

 

Sana's eyes widen. "R-really?" 

 

Tzuyu nods. "You've wanted to do it, didn't you?" 

 

Sana nods. "Well yeah, but only to see if it works." 

 

Tzuyu places her hands on Sana's shoulders. "Can't he be your test subject?" 

 

The shifter's eyes widen. "N-no! Just...just take me out! Mina just...take out my brain! Please!" 

 

Sana giggles. "Sorry, mister, but my girlfriend's requests are my entire life, so..." Sana shrugs, allowing her hand to disapear. She places where it would be on the shifter's stomach. "...sorry?" 

 

Sana's hand reappears and with it, a giant hole forms in the shifter's stomach. Blood spills onto Dahyun and Momo's floor and it fills the room with a disgusting smell. 

 

"W-well..." the shifter whispers, groaning. "I guess this is goodbye." 

 

Jihyo shakes her head. "We are  _not_ saying goodbye to you, Mr." 

 

The shifter rolls his eyes. "Fine," he manages to say before drifting off slowly into his miserable death. 

 

"Sorry you had to see that," Mina whispers into Chaeyoung's ear. "I went berserk." 

 

Chaeyung leans her head back onto Mina. "It's fine I guess. Won't I be seeing that anyways?" 

 

Mina nods. "But it'll haunt your dreams. I know it." 

 

Chaeyoung gulps. "So no sleep anymore for me?" 

 

Mina laughs. "Maybe." 

 

Momo disappears along with the shifters body and reappears a couple seconds later. 

 

"Just had to take out the trash," she giggles, begining to mop their blood stained floors. "good thing we didn't put in carpets yet." 

 

Dahyun nods, finding her way into backhugging her girlfriend. "Good thing you found me." 

 

"You were just tied up in a closet," Momo groans. "How was that enough to keep you down?" 

 

Dahyun shrugs. "He just...I was just there I dunno." 

 

Momo turns to Chaeyoung. "Do you think you could rewire the door?" 

 

Confused, Chaeyoung responds. "Why would you think I could do that?" 

 

Dahyun points to the gloves. "Didn't you make these?" 

 

Chaeyoung nods. "Yeah, but-" 

 

"They gave you  _powers,_ Chaeyoung. Isn't that something?" Dahyun asks, sitting beside Chaeyoung as the rest of the girls leave the room. 

 

"It was on accident, Dahyun. I didn't  _mean_ to give myself powers that, truthfully, I don't even want," Chaeyoung responds, placing her hands on Mina's. 

 

"But you still did something amazing, Chae. You know how to make a perfectly functional machine!" Dahyun exclaims. "Can't you design something to fix the door?" 

 

Chaeyoung shakes her head, tears forming in her eyes. "I couldn't even defend myself from a destroyer and got both of my legs broken to pieces. Why would I be able to fix something from like a million years in the future?" 

 

"Well..." Dahyun says, laughing. "those two things are very unrelated. Just because you can't beat someone up doesn't mean you can't fix something none of us can." 

 

"But it's from the future," Chaeyoung explains. "I'm from now. It took me over a year to build those gloves and the only reason they worked was because of the stupid crystal." 

 

"But you still made the machine. If the machine didn't work, the crystal wouldn't have done anything." 

 

Chaeyoung sighs pointing to the gloves in Dahyun's hands. "Those gloves look like they'll fall apart any second, Dahyun. What makes you think I could do anything more than just make another completely demolished pointless machine again?" 

 

Dahyun smiles. "Because I believe that you can," Dahyun laughs. "and Jeongyeon and Nayeon said that you'll be our smart person of the group, so..." she gets up. "...heal your legs and then get to work." 

 

Dahyun leaves the room with Momo, leaving Chaeyoung on Mina's lap in the middle of a room that isn't even their's. 

 

"So that was fun, wasn't it?" Mina grumbles. "I never thought I'd have to beat up a fake Dahyun." 

 

"Well," Chaeyoung says. "you did it for the good of humanity." 

 

Mina sighs loudly. "It was harder than I thought, but when I learned you got hurt..." Mina frowns. "it was like I became a monster." 

 

Chaeyoung takes Mina's hand from her waist and laces their fingers together. "You aren't a monster, Mina." 

 

Chaeyoung feels a tears fall onto her shoulder. 

 

"You called me one," Mina croaks. "it hurt so much even though I know it wasn't you. It hurt to hear the truth." 

 

Chaeyoung kisses Mina's cheek lightly. "You aren't anything close to a monster, Mina, please just don't even think about it. You're defending your friends and that makes you the opposite of a monster." 

 

"But what about in the past...when I really did intend to hurt the girls? What makes me any different?" 

 

"You love them now, Meen. You love them with your entire heart and you do things that make you seem insane just to make sure of that." 

 

"So I'm insane?" 

 

"You're just defending the people you love." 

 

"What if the only reason I'm here still is because I can't find a reason to kill them? What if the only reason I'm still here is because my father still has hope that I'll kill them?" 

 

"Well, you aren't going to kill them, Mina. I know for a fact that you could never get the courage to ever even lay a finger on any of them." 

 

"I've killed innocent people, Chaeyoung, you understand that, right? I killed people that had a life, kids...a _family!_ I destroyed families, Chaeyoung." 

 

Chaeyoung nods. "I understand that it bothers you, but just because you were manipulated and  _controlled_ doesn't mean it was your fault. Yes, the blood was on your hands, but your father's thoughts and intentions were in your head, not your's."

 

"How are you okay with this?" 

 

"The same reason why the rest of the girls are, Mina. We all know that you are a mushy little weirdo on the inside that wouldn't ever hurt anyone ever again." 

 

Mina smiles.

 

"Just because you've done wrong doesn't mean I'll look at you any different. Sana just killed a man in front of me and tortured him to death, but I'm still going to treat her the same way," Chaeyoung sighs. "unfortunately, this is our life now, Mina. We have to adapt to the fact that it isn't going to be pretty and it sure as hell isn't going to be what we planned, but we have each other. We have all nine of us. We've all made mistakes. I've hurt people. I've broken hearts, but its okay. I can save the world. Even if our names aren't on the paper and no one even knows what we did, we'll know. We could tell our kids in the future." 

 

"Kids?" 

 

"Don't you imagine having kids?" 

 

Mina laughs. "I imagine you're saying this without the intentions of asking if I would want to try to have a kid with you?" 

 

"Oh..." Chaeyoung giggles nervously. "...yeah sorry. I was just saying that our story doesn't have to be spread far and wide. In fact, I'm fine if I don't have kids and us nine are the only ones who know the epic adventures we went through together. I'd like to grow old knowing that I made a difference and just being apart of the NewPorts is enough for me." 

 

"Looks like you're the prophet now, Chaeng," Mina says laughing. "you just like invented a quote right there." 

 

"I get a little intense sometimes." 

 

"Its cute." 

 

Chaeyoung rolls her eyes. "So what gave the shifter away exactly?" 

 

Mina shrugs. "I mean...you were flirtier than usual. You also seemed a lot more calm and knowledgeable about the battle field even though you've never fought with us before." 

 

"So he made me more heroic and sexy than usual?" 

 

"Well," Mina giggles. "you already  _are_ both." 

 

Chaeyoung laughs back. "So are you a clone too then? You're flirty." 

 

"I'm always flirty." 

 

"But more." 

 

"And if I'm a clone?" 

 

"Well, then I can tell you things I'm too embarrassed to tell Mina." 

 

"Okay, then I'm a clone." 

 

"As if that'll work on me, Mina. I know you aren't."

 

"I can erase it from my memory?" 

 

"I guess so. How could I know whether or not you actually do though?" 

 

"I'd never lie to you." 

 

Chaeyoung rolls her eyes and sighs. "Fine." 

 

"I'm listening." 

 

"I didn't actually have anything." 

 

"As if. I can read your mind, Chaeyoung." 

 

_Stupid._

 

"I'm also not stupid," Mina snaps.

 

"Fine. Can you prop me up next to you so I can face you? I can't because you numbed my legs." 

 

Mina nods. "How about I just bring us back to our room? We can cuddle up on my bed and talk if you'd like." 

 

"Sure, but can you carry me?" 

 

Mina laughs. "You have telekinesis, Chaeyoung, use it." 

 

Chaeyoung groans and does everything in her power so lift herself up off the ground. She walks very ungracefully from Momo and Dahyun's room and into her own, falling face first on Mina's bed and bouncing back onto their hard floor. 

 

She winces, as her butt bangs against the floor. 

 

"That was hot," Mina says, giggling as she helps Chaeyoung onto her bed. 

 

Chaeyoung mumbles quietly to herself as Mina helps her get comfortable on her twin-sized bed.

 

Mina sits beside her, her arms wrapped around her waist comfortably.

 

Chaeyoung looks at Mina's face, smiling as she appreciates her. 

 

Mina notices and her face turns red. "W-what are you doing?" 

 

"I'm just admiring you," Chaeyoung responds. "I'm allowed to do that, aren't I?" 

 

Mina's face turns a brighter red. "W-well yeah, but-" 

 

"You're really beautiful, Mina. Even more beautiful close up, actually." 

 

Mina's blush worsens even more. "T-thanks?" 

 

"I'm serious. You're the most beautiful girl I've ever met." 

 

"Even more then...then Tzuyu?" 

 

"Yup." 

 

"Jihyo?" 

 

"Yes." 

 

"Even Nayeon?" 

 

"Mina, I think you're the most beautiful person in the world. You can name all of our friends and I'll always think you're above them all." 

 

Mina is quiet. Chaeyoung knows why. She's embarrassed her. 

 

"So I've embarrassed the one and only Myoui Mina? That's truly an honor."

 

Mina hides her face in Chaeyoung's chest. 

 

"You don't need to be embarrassed around me, Meen. It'll just make me fall for you even harder." 

 

"Oh shut up, Chae. My face is so hot right now." 

 

"So you get it! You  _do_ have a hot face!" 

 

"N-no! I meant I'm blushing so bad! My face is probably red!" 

 

Chaeyoung giggles and places her hand on the back of Mina's head.

 

"I love you, Mina," Chaeyoung whispers as Mina finally sits back up. 

 

Mina smiles and places a soft kiss on Chaeyoung's lips. "I love you too, Chaengie." 

 

Chaeyoung cuddles up beside Mina, leaving absolutely no room in between the two of them. 

 

"Hey, Meen?" Chaeyoung says. 

 

"Mhm?" 

 

"What time is it?" 

 

"I dunno." 

 

"Do you think we could go out?" 

 

"On a date?" 

 

"Mhm." 

 

Mina laughs. "And what will we do about your broken legs?" 

 

"Could you just wrap them in something and push me around in a wheelchair?" 

 

"That could work." 

 

"Can we go to dinner together? And then walk around in the park?" 

 

Mina nods. "I'd love to." 

 

"So then get a wheelchair!" 

 

Mina rolls her eyes. "I'll have the girls help you get ready too. Make sure to look pretty for me..." Mina gets off the bed. "...but you always look pretty anyways. Just wear something nice I guess." 

 

Chaeyoung nods, frantically trying to use her powers to float herself towards her closest. Mina stops her mid-air. 

 

"You sit. I'll get your clothes for you," Mina says, pushing Chaeyoung back onto her bed. 

 

Chaeyoung nods. "Pick out whatever you think I'd look nice in." 

 

Mina opens the closet, going through Chaeyoung's side. She smiles and takes out Chaeyoung's black dress. 

 

Chaeyoung's eyes widen. "Where do you think we are _going_?" 

 

"I have a place in mind," Mina smiles. "and it turns out they have an open reservation right now!" 

 

"How do you know?" 

 

"I went into Nayeon's mind and asked her to make a reservation for us. We have two hours before it, so...uh...let's cuddle for a but." 

 

Mina jumps back onto the bed beside Chaeyoung, gleaming. 

 

"Jeez, Mina," Chaeyoung says. "you're adorable." 

 

"I'm just happy to be beside you." 

 

Chaeyoung laughs to herself. "Good because I love you. If you didn't enjoy my company, then it would be really weird." 

 

Mina giggles. 

 

"How about we watch some TV?" 

 

Mina nods motioning for Chaeyoung to get the remote. At first she's confused why Mina would be asking her knowing she's crippled, but then she realizes its because of her powers. She catches the remote mid-air and places it in Mina's hand. 

 

Mina clicks onto the television shows. 

 

"Have you ever watched 'Kingsly Bachelors'?" Mina asks. 

 

Chaeyoung shakes her head. "No, why?" 

 

"Its so stupid. This guy got rejected so many times that now he made a show about some random contestants that dress up in armor suits and the females get to know them and choose the one they like the most." 

 

"So its like any dating show ever?" 

 

"But with more rejections." 

 

"Really?"

 

"There was this one guy who had this girl head over heels for him and then he took off his costume..." Mina laughs loudly. "...she  _ran out of the set!"_

 

"That's awful." 

 

"No! Hilarious! The poor guy lives in his parents basement at  _fourty years old!"_

 

"That's just sad." 

 

Mina smiles, cuddling up into Chaeyoung's neck and kissing it. "Well, good thing I have you." 

 

Chaeyoung feels her cheeks grow hot. She smiles, letting Mina close the distance between them. "Good thing it is." 


	9. The (Disastrous) Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mina and Chaeyoung go on their first date with their new fake identities. Chaos ensues. Perhaps even...death?

(cont. from chapter 7 & 8) 

 

"I look so stupid," Chaeyoung grumbles. "I wish the shifter didn't have to  _crack my legs_ and then knock me out." 

 

Mina sighs. "I did my best to try to heal them. You tried as well and there isn't anything we can do." 

 

"That's why I'm complaining!" Chaeyoung snaps back and pouts. "I hate this wheelchair." 

 

The rest of the girls laugh. Momo's basically rolling around on the floor.

 

Mina groans. "Do you all have to be here?" 

 

Jihyo nods. "Its like we're letting free our baby bird, Mina-yah! You've been the only one of us to never date before!" 

 

Mina groans again, louder this time. "I'm not the baby! Tzuyu is the baby!" 

 

Sana wraps her arms around her girlfriend, pouting. "Tzuyu is _my_ baby and my baby only!" 

 

Jihyo rolls her eyes. "See! You're the baby!" 

 

"I'm the baby if we aren't considering Tzuyu to be it. I'm only a couple months older than her," Chaeyoung replies. 

 

"See, Jihyo? I'm  _not_ the baby!" Mina says proudly. 

 

"She is only saying that to protect her girlfriend!" Momo shouts. "I call cheats!" 

 

"What the  _hell!?"_ Mina mutters, slapping her hands on her hips. "Why are you guys being so mean? I'm not a baby!" 

 

Chaeyoung hums, "Well...I think your face is fit to be a baby face." 

 

Mina sighs in defeat and hold the grips of Chaeyoung's wheelchair tightly. "Well," Mina says sassily, "I need to go help bandage up  _my_ girlfriends legs so we can leave for our date." Mina pushes the wheelchair from the living room and into the bathroom. Mina finds her way through the cabinets and boxes and finds the bandages to put on Chaeyoung's legs. 

 

"Are the bandages really needed? Can't I just pretend to be paralyzed or something?" Chaeyoung asks, a glimmer of fear in her eyes. "I really don't enjoy being enclosed in things." 

 

Mina finds that this was the same glimmer she had seen in Chaeyoung's eyes when they had taken her from Momo's chest. She's guiltly as she responds, "Your legs are completely destroyed and bent. Chaengie, I hate to say this, but we all need to make sacrifices to be out now. I know you have things that bother you and make you uncomfortable, but if we want to go out..." Mina smiles uncomfortably as she opens up the tape, "...we both need to do stuff we don't want to do." 

 

Chaeyoung's stares at Mina in wonder as she walks out of the room and returns back in. She gulps before beginning. "Y-you are doing something you don't like too?" 

 

Mina laughs to herself as she starts bandaging Chaeyoung legs. It immediately turns into a frown. "Well...not necessarily." 

 

"Necessarily? What's that supposed to mean?" 

 

Mina stops bandaging Chaeyoung's legs for a moment to look up at her. "I'm known to the destroyers. I've always been known, but I'm known by  _everyone._ All of the destroyers that my father has ever trained are trained to be able to defeat people like you and I. It gives me a bit more confidence knowing that he needs to train them so hard to get them to our level of power, but..." Mina's eyes meet Chaeyoung's. "...there is still the chance that your vulnerability at the moment could be the reason we get caught." 

 

Chaeyoung nods. She lifts her hand up to place on Mina's cheek. Immediately after her touch, Chaeyoung feels the surface of Mina's cheek turn hot. She smiles, keeping their eye contact. "Well," she starts, "if you think that it isn't worth the risk to go out, then we can just order takeout or something."

 

Mina shakes her head. "I think its worth the risk," she smiles, "I think  _you're_ worth the risk. Just by taking you here with us was a risk. By having a relationship with you is a risk. The only thing else to risk is our lives...and I'd happily take mine for you." 

 

Chaeyoung's mouth falls open and her hand falls onto her lap. Mina feels an emptiness without the touch of Chaeyoung. "You...you can't. I won't let you," Chaeyoung shakes back the tears in her eyes, "if you take your life for mine...I...I'll take mine too. I wouldn't be able to live knowing I'm the reason why you aren't here anymore." 

 

"Chaengie-" 

 

"No, Mina, I'm serious. I'm the reason why this entire fight in going on and I'll be the one to finish it," Chaeyoung kisses Mina gently; the kiss lasts only a second with Chaeyoung pulling back slowly to look into Mina's eyes. "I want you to be there with me when everything returns to normal and we can live our lives without fears." 

 

Mina's face is flushed as she responds. "Please, Chaengie. Listen." 

 

Chaeyoung nods. 

 

"I like you...no...I love you, Chaeyoung. I'm in love with you. I enjoy being here by your side and thinking that I could've done something to save you, but I didn't...I mean, I'd be broken." 

 

"You realize that they aren't going to kill me, right? If they kill me, they won't have my powers." 

 

"But they can still control you." 

 

"Not if I earn trust." 

 

"Trust? You've planned this?" 

 

"Of course I did." 

 

Mina places her hand on Chaeyoung's thigh, rubbing it gently. "You don't trust that we can make sure you're okay?" 

 

"Of course I trust you guys...it's...it's just that there's always the chance that things can go wrong. If they do, we need to be ready?" 

 

"We?" 

 

Chaeyoung nods. "I'll have to tell the girls the plan eventually," Chaeyoung smiles, "but for now, you're all mine!" 

 

Mina giggles and sits back onto the floor. She starts to bandage up Chaeyoung's legs again. She hums happily to herself before speaking. "Hey, Chaengie, what's my fake name again?" 

 

"Patricia Myoui. I'm your wife Katie." 

 

"Kids?" 

 

"We've only been married for a year, so no." 

 

"Where do we live?" 

 

"Behind the Cafe. That way if we manage to make friends, we can explain to them why we're always there. We own the Cafe by the way." 

 

"What if they know Jeongyeon?" 

 

"We own it with her, then," Chaeyoung purses her lips. "By the way, are the names you gave me your actual names?" 

 

Mina nods. "We usually use code names sometimes while out if we don't talk using our minds." 

 

"What are you? Penguin?" 

 

"I'd rather not tell." 

 

Chaeyoung smiles. "I want to know! If you don't tell me, I'll just ask Jihyo!" 

 

Mina pouts. "Please do  _not_ make me say it!" 

 

"What is it? Farthead? Butthole?" 

 

"No! Not that bad." 

 

"I'm guess Jihyo made them?" 

 

"Mhm." 

 

"Baby?" 

 

Mina groans. "Dammit, Chaeyoung." 

 

"That's cute. Did she make me one?" 

 

Mina sighs, "Maybe." 

 

Chaeyoung's face lights up. "What is it?" 

 

"Tiger. She said you remind her of a baby tiger." 

 

Chaeyoung sighs happily to herself. "I love that." 

 

"I know you do. I suggested it." 

 

Chaeyoung giggles, "Oh, Minari, you know me too well already." 

 

"My name is Minari. It's Patty remember?" 

 

Chaeyoung runs her hand through Mina's hair, smiling as she does so. "Mmmm I'll call you something cute. I don't like calling you Patty." 

 

"Oh really? You made the name though." 

 

"I'll call you baby." 

 

"No! Please don't!" 

 

Chaeyoung hums, thinking to herself for a couple seconds. "What about languages. Do you speak any other languages?" 

 

Mina shakes her head. "I'm an all American loser." 

 

"I guess I'll just figure it out eventually." 

 

Chaeyoung feels Mina stop wrapping the bandage and leans forward to face her. 

 

"Are you done?" Chaeyoung asks.

 

Mina nods. "It really does look like you broke them." 

 

"I did." 

 

"No I mean...it really looks like you went to a doctor and got it taken care of and stuff." 

 

Chaeyoung shakes her head, laughing as she leans back onto her wheelchair. 

 

Mina's eyebrows perk up and she gets up quickly. "We need to leave! It's almost six o'clock!" 

 

"O-oh ok! Push me out of here then!" 

 

Mina quickly finds her way behind Chaeyoung's wheelchair and pushes them out of the bathroom and back into the living room. 

 

"Aye! There you guys are!" Nayeon shouts. "You guys took forever in there!" 

 

Sana wiggles her eyebrows, giggling behind Tzuyu before saying, "They were probably making out!"

 

Mina groans. "Oh shut up, Sanata! We were only talking." 

 

"I doubt that!" Sana shoots back, her giggles only getting louder. 

 

Mina rolls her eyes and continues to push Chaeyoung out of the living room. Jihyo steps in front of the chair, making Mina stop quickly. 

 

"Be careful okay, baby?" Jihyo says to Mina, her voice serious. "We can't lose you to those idiot over there," Jihyo looks down at Chaeyoung. "And we can't lose you either. Promise me you'll be careful and stick to your fake identities." 

 

Mina nods. "I promise, Jihyo." 

 

Jihyo walks over to Mina and hugs her tightly. There is silence for a moment before Mina returns to the wheelchair. 

 

Jihyo stands in front of Chaeyoung and sits in front of her. "Promise me you'll be careful too, Chaengie. You're just as known to them as Mina is." 

 

Chaeyoung nods. "I promise, Jihyo." 

 

Jihyo gets up from the ground and smiles. "Have fun you two!" Chaeyoung swears she sees Jihyo winking at Mina as they leave.

 

Mina stops suddenly, laughing. "Hey, Chae, can you...uh..float yourself up the stairs?" 

 

Chaeyoung giggles. "Sure." 

 

Chaeyoung concentrates as hard as she can, the wheelchair gradually rising from the ground. Mina stands carefully behind, her arms ready to catch Chaeyoung just in case. She makes her way up and the door unlocks without any issues. 

 

"Good job, Chaengie," Mina says proudly from behind her. "You're really good at your powers already!" 

 

Chaeyoung turns to look at Mina. "Thank you," is all she says before turning back forward. 

 

The air is crisp, nice, and just warm enough so that neither of them bother to put on their jackets. There is practically no wind whatsoever. The night is perfect. 

 

Although Chaeyoung had lived in New York for nearly a year and a half now, she always fails to remember how beautiful it is during the night. She sighs happily to herself and gets comfortable on the wheelchair. 

 

"It's really nice out, isn't it," Chaeyoung says, "it's basically perfect weather." 

 

"I don't think we've had weather this nice in forever." 

 

"Just lots of wind and coldness." 

 

"Stupid November." 

 

"Mmmm...more like stupid gravity." 

 

She hears Mina laugh quietly to herself before responding. "Perhaps our training knocked Earth off it's rotation." 

 

"Honestly, with your guys' powers, I wouldn't be surprised." 

 

A light breeze hits and blows Chaeyoung's hair back lightly. She loves how the air feels on her newly exposed neck. 

 

"I love this," Chaeyoung whispers. 

 

"Love what?" 

 

"Everything about right now. The scenery, the lights, the weather, the fact that I'm not walking, and mostly you. Darn...I wish I brought my camera." 

 

Mina stops suddenly and pushes them both to a nearby bench. She bites her lip nervously as she faces Chaeyoung. 

 

"Is a phone good enough for pictures?" Mina asks. 

 

"Well...it just so happens that we destroyed my old phone." 

 

Mina smiles. "I may have a bit of a surprise." 

 

Chaeyoung's face lights up. "No way." 

 

"Yes way," Mina opens up her purse and places a phone into Chaeyoung's hand, "designed by Jeongyeon and Nayeon themselves, I introduce to you the NewPorts official cellular device." 

 

"You're literally the best girlfriend ever!" Chaeyoung shouts and kisses Mina's cheek. "Does it have a name?" 

 

Mina nods. "ICDPhone. Indestructable cellular device phone." 

 

"Mmmm boring." 

 

"That's what I thought," Mina responds. "Want me to help you set it up real quick?" 

 

"What about our reservation?" 

 

"We have a bit of time." 

 

Chaeyoung shrugs. "Why not." 

 

Mina takes the phone from Chaeyoung's hand and turns it on. 

 

"It's different than normal phones, so we don't need emails and stuff, but it still does the same stuff as an IPhone or a Samsung or something."

 

"So how do I set it up?" 

 

"Facial recognition." 

 

"So no password?" 

 

"No you need a password," Mina answers, clicking some buttons and getting them to the specific screen. "What do you want it to be?" 

 

"Numbers, right?" 

 

Mina nods. 

 

"Eleven Seventeen." 

 

"One One One Seven. Got a reason behind it?" 

 

Chaeyoung nods proudly. "It's the day I met you." 

 

Mina's cheeks turn red. "Oh stop it." 

 

"Or perhaps I should do Eleven Twenty. That's the date of us going official." 

 

"That's sweet, Chaengie, really." 

 

"Okay...I've decided. I want it to be Eleven Twenty. That way whenever I turn on my phone, I can be like...'OMG I'm so in love with Mina!'"

 

Mina giggles, embarrassed. "Thanks really cute." 

 

"Mhmm. What's your phone password?" 

 

"Zero Eight Twenty-Four." 

 

"What's that?" 

 

"My birthday." 

 

"March twenty-fourth?" 

 

"Mhm." 

 

"Good to know." 

 

Mina's fingers lace through Chaeyoungs. Butterflies float through Chaeyoung's stomach. 

 

_I love her touch._

 

Mina flinches. 

 

Chaeyoung turns towards Mina. "What's the matter?" 

 

Mina seems paler than she was before. "N-nothing...just...deijavu."

 

"About what?" 

 

"Nothing. Don't worry about it." 

 

"I am worrying. I'm your girlfriend, Mina, c'mon! Don't hide stuff from me!" 

 

Mina groans. "Well, its stupid. Your clone said that she loves my touch too, so I just...you know...had a little freak out moment." 

 

"Well, I'm pretty sure I'm not a clone, so..." Chaeyoung leans her head back and pouts. She smiles and leans closer to Mina. "...so kiss me. You'll know I'm fake if my kiss is different." 

 

"What if it is?That's called cheating." 

 

"Mmmmm well...you can't say no to me. Can you?" 

 

Mina sighs in defeat. "I cannot." 

 

Mina kisses Chaeyoung. Its a quick kiss, but still lets out all the love Mina has for Chaeyoung all onto her lips. 

 

"You're a good kisser, you know," Chaeyoung laughs. 

 

Mina rolls her eyes. "As if." 

 

"I'm serious." 

 

"Are you sure you're not a clone?" 

 

"Test me." 

 

"What's my last name?" 

 

"Myoui." 

 

"Birthday?" 

 

"March twenty-fourth. You just said it." 

 

"What's your biggest fear?" 

 

"The dark." 

 

"Why is it your fear?"

 

"I was blind for most of my life." 

 

"Ooooh here is a good one. Which one of us were the one that was super eager to fake murder you?" 

 

"Sana." 

 

"Who's Sana's girlfriend?" 

 

"Tzuyu." 

 

"How old is Tzuyu?" 

 

"Eighteen. Her birthday is a bit after mine." 

 

"Which member is dating Jihyo?" 

 

Chaeyoung arches her brows. "Jihyo is dating someone? I thought you said she was single." 

 

"Yeah you're real." 

 

"I know I am, Mina," Chaeyoung sighs, "how about we make some sort of a code? Like to test to see if we're real." 

 

"That's not half bad. I have one with the girls." 

 

"Is that why you were saying such random words?" 

 

Mina nods. "We agreed on them a while back. You don't know them, so it'll be best if we have words to us." 

 

Chaeyoung smiles. "How about Baby Tiger." 

 

"Like..." 

 

"One of us says baby and the response would be tiger." 

 

"Are you trying to use our code names?" 

 

Chaeyoung giggles happily. "Yup. I think they're cute." 

 

"I like it." 

 

"I like  _you."_

 

"Quit being stupid." 

 

"I'm your stupid." 

 

Mina smiles. "You are my stupid." 

 

Mina lays her head on Chaeyoung's shoulder and they sit there for a while in silence, enjoying each other's presence. 

 

Finally Mina gets up. "We've got to go now. Our reservation is yet to be fulfilled." 

 

"Mhm. Push me!" Chaeyoung says in a baby voice. 

 

Mina rolls her eyes. "Don't do that every again!" she clutches her chest. "My heart might just explode!" 

 

Chaeyoung giggles as Mina gets behind the wheelchair and continues their journey to the restaurant." 

 

_"We've got a problem."_

 

Chaeyoung jumps, startled by the voice in her head. They continue. 

 

_"So news has it Emperor has figured out Chaeyoung isn't dead."_

 

_"How?"_

 

_"Some asshole must've run a DNA sample and found a quirk in it."_

 

_"Doesn't he work for some hospital?"  
_

 

_"So that's how he gets our data."_

 

_"That's why we don't seek medical attention when we're hurt?"_

 

_"Where's Chaeyoung?"_

 

_"Don't worry. She's safe with Mina."_

 

_"I've got her guys. Don't worry."_

 

_"Did you give her the phone?"_

 

_"Yup. We've set it up."_

 

_"Why isn't she answering us right now?"_

 

_"She's probably not used to it."_

 

_"Chaengie! It's Sannnaaaa! You should answer so I can hear your cute voice!"_

 

_Uhh...hi?_

 

_"Okay. She isn't dead."_

 

_"I just told you she's safe with me. Trust me I have her. Now can you stop bothering me to mind call and let us be on our date?"_

 

_"Call me when you're done eating okay, baby?"_

 

_"Okay, Jihyo-ssi."_

 

_"We looooove youuuuu!"_

 

_"Jeez."_

 

_"We love you too, Chaengie!"_

 

_Thanks, guys. I love you guys too._

 

_"OMG SHE LOVES US BACK!"_

 

_"It's truly an honor, Miss Son."_

 

_Oh shush you guys. You've taken me in as your child, so of course I have no choice but to love you._

 

_"She loves me the most though."_

 

_Mhmmm, I do, Mina._

 

_"NO FAIR! SHE HAS FAVORITES!"_

 

_"I can't believe you would even admit such a false comment, Chaeyoung! You know you love me more!"_

 

_It would help if I knew who the hell you all were._

 

_"Can she not recog...oh...OH...she must not be connected properly or something? What's clogging your genius mind?"_

 

_"Wouldn't it only happen to clones?"_

 

_"Don't scare me like that, Dahyun, jesus. Enough clones for one day."_

 

_"I'm serious. Check her brain. If it's a clone, she'll have foggy memories and most removed."_

 

_"She's clean. She can't be a clone. I've been with her the whole time."_

 

_"Even when she changed and peed? OOoooooooOoOoooOh that's pretty kin-"_

 

_"HOLY JESUS SANA I'M JUST A CHILD!"_

 

_"Sorry, lovie!"_

 

_"You're dating the kinkiest out of us all. She definitely uses them on you, so...quit pretending, Tzuyu."_

 

_"W-WHAT!?"_

 

_"She's really bad at lying."_

 

_"Yeah she is."_

 

_What is even going on?_

 

_"Mmmmm just sisterly stuff."_

 

_But...weird sisterly stuff?_

 

_"Get used to it kid, you've joined this family and there isn't an out now."_

 

_I should've made a pro and cons list jeez._

 

_"We are your pro and cons list now!"_

 

_"That makes literally no sense at all, Momoring."_

 

_"Oh shut up and enjoy me."_

 

_"Enjoy...you? Is she high?"_

 

_"No she baked cookies."_

 

_"Weed cookies?"_

 

_"Wouldn't doubt it."_

 

_"Chocolate chip cookies. No weed."_

 

_"And we...can have some right?"_

 

_"Nope. Make your own batch."_

 

_"She'll eat them all trust me."_

 

_Save some for me, Momo!_

 

_"Will do, Chaengie!"_

 

_"So she saves some for her and not us...I'M YOUR GIRLFRIEND MOMO!"_

 

_"And your point?"_

 

_There isn't a point in this conversation._

_"Right! Okay, kids, let's leave the lovebirds on their date."_

 

_"Aw really? Jihyo do we neeed to hang up? I want to know what's going on!"_

 

_"No thanks, guys. We'd rather be on our phone."_

 

_Speak for yourself._

 

_"Okay, well...we're going to be at the restaurant in like two seconds and it'll attract attention."_

 

_"Not really...? They can't hear us."_

 

_"Ooooh! What if-"_

 

Mina groans. "I ended the thought thingy." 

 

Chaeyoung giggles. "They're all super comfortable with each other apparently." 

 

"We've lived together for years, so yeah we're basically sisters." 

 

"Where did you guys live before?" 

 

"Usually abandoned places. We didn't think to live in the Cafe until we met you." 

 

Chaeyoung leans back on her wheelchair to look at Mina. "That's so sad." 

 

Mina boops Chaeyoung's nose and pouts. "It was." 

 

"Look at the bright side though! Now you live in a well designed basement thingy with all of your friends!" 

 

"You aren't my friend, Chaeyoung." 

 

"Ouch." 

 

"No...no...you  _are,_ but more of a soulmate than a friend. I love you with my entire heart and I couldn't be satisfied with just being friends." 

 

Chaeyoung giggles. "Nice save." 

 

"I'm experienced." 

 

"I thought you haven't dated anyone before?" 

 

Mina hums happily. "Only you. I've just learned how to save all sorts of relationships." 

 

"Sounds like a fun story." 

 

"Perhaps for another time," Mina responds. Chaeyoung notices her voice shake a bit.

 

_She's hiding something._

 

Mina nearly chokes as she hears Chaeyoung's thoughts. "C-chaengie! I'm not hiding anything...I'm just...not ready." 

 

"Mmmm sure," Chaeyoung says sarcastically.

 

Mina sighs and runs in front of the wheelchair to open the door. Chaeyoung pushes the wheels in order to get in. 

 

The restaurant is loud and lots of people are standing in the front, most likely waiting for their tables. Chaeyoung pushes past Mina and Mina quickly makes her way back to Chaeyoung's chair and pushes her to the stand. 

 

"Hello," Mina says, "reservation for Myoui?" 

 

He looks down at a piece of paper and then back up at Mina. "Table for two for Patty?" 

 

Mina nods. 

 

"Follow me right this way." 

 

Mina pushes through the restaurant. Chaeyoung connects eyes with someone, but they look away nervously. 

 

_Mina?_

 

_"Yes?"_

 

_We've...got a suspicious person._

 

_"Yeah I can sense someone with powers."_

 

_Who is he?_

 

_"It doesn't appear to be someone who works for my dad, so that's good, but he still seems to know we have powers."_

 

_What do we do?_

 

_"Just act normally. Don't let this ruin our date."_

 

"This is where you'll be sitting," the man says, "your waiter will be here soon." He walks away. 

 

Chaeyoung goes to scoot herself on the opposite side of Mina, but Mina stops her and shakes her head. 

 

"Sit next to me," Mina says. 

 

"I can't walk, Mina." 

 

"I'll carry you. It's easy." 

 

"And what about the people?" 

 

"Literally no one cares." 

 

"Are you sure?" 

 

"I'm positive." 

 

Chaeyoung sighs. "If we die-" 

 

"We aren't going to, Cha-I mean, Katie. We're not going to arouse any suspicion." 

 

_"I feel tension."_

 

Mina groans. 

 

_"I said to use the calls for EMERGENCIES ONLY."_

 

_"It is. Jeong and Nayeon just had a vision."_

 

_"Is it bad?"_

 

_"Yes."_

 

_"And how do we react?"_

 

_"Get. The. Hell. Out."_

 

_"Of the restaurant?"_

 

_"Go anywhere but in this building."_

 

_Why do we need to get out?_

 

_"Basically, there's a powered person and he's got like fucking insane powers and you'll die if you stay."_

 

_"Fuck."_

 

_Mina don't curse._

 

_"Okay, we're going."_

 

Mina grabs the handles of Chaeyoung's wheelchair and pushes her quickly from the dining room. She glimpses over at the powered person and notices him getting up and coming after them. 

 

_He's following._

 

_"We're coming."_

 

_What are his powers? Can't I just freeze him there?_

 

_"No. He's a special."_

 

_"He's a special? Crap."_

 

_What's a special?_

 

_"He's being mind controlled by my father's men. That means he's really powerful."_

 

_"Specials are trained to be able to withstand most powers."_

 

_"Any idea which ones he's susceptible to?"_

 

_"Strength. A couple hits with Tzuyu and he should go out, but problem. He's quite the uh...Sana type."_

 

_So then that's me. I can tell you where he is._

 

_"He doesn't have speed and according to Jeong he's pretty slow."_

 

_Perfect._

 

Mina is running down the street now. Chaeyoung can hear his heavy footsteps behind them. 

 

"Chaeyoung," Mina says, panting, "we're going down a hill right now, which means I'm not going to be able to keep up." 

 

"I'll fly us," Chaeyoung responds, "if you send a ball under us and get us high enough, I can just fly us up a building." 

 

_"Can this bitch fly?"_

 

_"No?"_

 

_"Why are you unsure?"_

 

_"I'm not sure...Jeongyeon didn't say she saw it."_

 

Mina groans. "I'm doing it." 

 

"Now?" 

 

Chaeyoung sees the ball of blue light forming in Mina's hand. 

 

"What about the people around us?" 

 

Mina groans again. "If we care, we die. I'm doing it in...5...4...3..2..1..." 

 

Chaeyoung feels as Mina throws the light below them and the chair flies up, Mina holding on tightly. It doesn't fall, instead floats up to the top of the building.

 

Mina falls beside Chaeyoung's chair and groans. 

 

_"Where are you guys?"_

 

_"We're getting ready! I'm so sorry, Mina! Are you two okay?"_

 

_"We'll be dead soon if you don't all get here."_

 

_Bring my gloves._

 

_"The ones that the clone had?"_

 

_Yes. I have a plan._

 

_"Tell us."_

 

_Well the gloves assist with nerve regrowth and as long as I wear it, I should be capable of walking._

 

_"So....?"_

_I can take him on as long as someone brings it to me._

 

_"No. You aren't taking him on."_

 

_"I'm not going to let you, Chaengie. You aren't ready to take on a special._

 

_But I took on Mina. How's this different?_

 

_"I wasn't going to kill you. He will."_

 

_"I've got your glove now, Chaengie! We'll be there in a couple seconds."_

 

Only two second later, seven girls dressed in black clothes appear out of nowhere in front of Chaeyoung and Mina. 

 

"Hi!" Sana cheers. 

 

Jihyo rolls her eyes and places the gloves on Chaeyoung's lap. She quickly puts them on. 

 

_The feeling._

 

Chaeyoung feels nauseous. She always hated putting these on. 

 

Mina places her hand on Chaeyoung's shoulder. "You okay?" she asks. 

 

Chaeyoung nods. "I'm fine." 

 

"Do you guys need new clothes?" Jeongyeon asks, holding up two sets of clothes similar to what everyone else is wearing. 

 

"We don't have time to change," Mina responds. "I can live with exposing my underwear to someone we'll kill anyways." 

 

"And how will you explain to the people on the streets why you were throwing blue balls at someone who's doing cool magic tricks?" Jihyo mutters. "Take the clothes you two. We'll defend for a second." 

 

Chaeyoung feels as the nerves in her legs begin to piece back together. She knows what else is happening, but it's okay. It's worth it. 

 

Her vision is blurring. She knows she's making a sacrifice, but it's okay. She'll be okay.

 

_Mina?_

 

No response. She smiles and gets up. The bandages on her legs are annoying, but she'll survive. 

 

The girls are too busy to notice Chaeyoung wincing in pain as she stumbles to them. They wouldn't understand. 

 

But it's worth it. 

 

"Okay, Chaeyoung, we'll be making the plan up as we go. Basically, just try to get him open for Tzuyu," Nayeon says. "Now that we have one more fighter, I'm sure we'll win." 

 

Chaeyoung nods and places her hand of Mina's shoulder. Her ears are ringing. She'll be okay. 

 

_I'll be okay._

 

_I'll be okay._

 

_This is worth it._

 

"Are you ready?" Mina whispers to her. "It's your first fight, so don't worry we'll have your back." 

 

"Mina, pair up with Chaeyoung and make sure he doesn't get any hits on her. She has her gloves to walk, but that doesn't make her invincible," Jihyo says. 

 

Mina nods and wraps her arm around Chaeyoung's shoulder happily. 

 

"First we're roomates, then girlfriends, and now we're partners! What's next? Wifes?" Mina jokes. 

 

Chaeyoung laughs. "We are married! Remember?" 

 

_You're worth it._

 

_I can endure for a little while longer._

 

"Oh sorry, Mrs. Katie Myoui, I had completely forgotten." 

 

Chaeyoung feels as her vision gets a bit worse. 

 

_You're worth it._

 

"Whoa," Mina exclaims. "You're eyes are like...dilating a lot. Are you okay?" 

 

Chaeyoung gulps.  _I might rip him to little pieces and attempt to kill you all if you don't let me go myself._

 

"Yeah, I'm fine." 

 

"J-jihyo?" Mina's voice cracks. 

 

_N-no. Jihyo, please..._

 

Jihyo walks beside Mina and gasps. 

 

"Chaeyoung-" 

 

"My eyes," Chaeyoung groans. "I know. The gloves are unstable..." she winces. "...but it's okay. It's worth it." 

 

"W-worth it?" Mina shakes her head. "Take them off. We don't need another fighter. I'm sure you can just use your powers from up here." 

 

"They are staying on," Chaeyoung snaps. Her head is pounding and she lets herself sit on the floor. "I'm fine." 

 

"You seem unstable," Jihyo says. 

 

"I am," Chaeyoung yells. "T-these gloves...are u-unstable and..." she screams to herself. "...I need a minute." 

 

_Remember how you dealt with them before._

 

_Remember how you freed yourself before._

 

_Remember how you regained your vision._

 

_You've won over the devil inside this._

 

_You're better than the devil._

 

_He's just trying to control you._

 

_He'll hurt Mina._

 

He'll hurt Mina.

 

"M-mina?" Chaeyoung croaks.

 

"Yes?" 

 

"I love you." 

 

Mina smiles. "I love you too, Chaengie." 

 

_Don't you dare touch her._

 

_I'll touch who I like._

 

And he's back. 

 

_Please._

 

_I've helped you before._

 

_I know you have._

 

_So let me kill her. Just for fun._

 

_You killing her would mean I'm killing her, demon._

 

_I told you not to call me that, Chaeyoung._

 

_Sorry. I'll let you do something else. I'll use you on the battlefield and-_

 

_No._

 

_Fine. I'm taking you off then. You only live when I let you._

 

_No!_

 

_Then don't hurt her._

 

_I promise nothing._

 

_Then I'm breaking you._

 

_You wouldn't._

 

_I'm ready to let go of the past, demon. I won't lose my vision again._

 

_But I'll always be apart of you._

 

_You gave me your power I know._

 

Chaeyoung rips the gloves from her hands and throws them to the ground. They smash and break. 

 

All of the girls turn towards her in a confused silence.

 

"He's a fucking demon," Chaeyoung mutters. "He was going to hurt Mina." 

 

"W-who?" Tzuyu asks. 

 

"The...the thingy. The person. In my gloves." 

 

"Pardon?" 

 

"You have a person in your gloves?" 

 

Chaeyoung is taken aback. "Well...technically?"

 

"You harbored the gem?" Dahyun says, eyes wide. "She harbored the gem! That's how you got your powers! Is it okay?" 

 

"The super man over there is more important to kill right now, guys," Mina says. 

 

They all nod. Jihyo picks up the crystal in the gloves and hands it to Momo. 

 

"Bring this to the house and put it you-no-where," Jihyo says. Momo nods and zooms away. She's back within seconds. 

 

"It's secure," Momo says, breathing heavily to catch her breath. 

 

Jihyo nods and turns towards the girls. "Okay, guys. We're dealing with a special. He's down there waiting for us. We're going to kill him. Any questions?" 

 

Momo raises her hand. "What if he get's one of us? We don't know how good he is." 

 

"We'll prioritize taking him down more than healing," Jihyo responds. "Unless it's either Chaeyoung, Tzuyu, or Mina. They are key to winning this fight." 

 

Momo nods. 

 

"Okay," Jihyo says, clapping her hands together. "Well, team, let's go." 

 

Everyone but Mina and Chaeyoung make their way down the building, using their unique abilities to make sure they don't break any bones in the process. 

 

Mina takes Chaeyoung's hand and leads her to the edge of the building. 

 

"We'll come down when they need us," Mina explains and sits down. 

 

"How are you so calm?" Chaeyoung croaks. "Aren't you nervous that something will go wrong?" 

 

Mina shakes her head. "I trust them." 

 

_"I've got one hit on him."_

 

_"Okay, Nayeon and Jeongyeon, go make him go back a bit in time. Sana, go back into around where he was before and try to phase through him."_

 

"Are they okay?" Chaeyoung asks. She laces her fingers through Mina's and squeezes her hand gently. "They seem to be loosing." 

 

_"Sana! Oh my god! Are you okay?"_

 

_"I'm fine. I got one of his arms in the least."_

 

_"Babe, can you walk?"_

 

_"Yeah super healing kicked in."_

 

_"Okay, Tzuyu we've opened up over here!"_

 

"They're fine. They said if anything goes wrong, they'll tell us to come down." 

 

_"Tzuyu! Shit. Are you okay?"_

 

_"Yup. The crack was his skull. Also my hand, but mostly his skull."_

 

_"He's falling...shit."_

 

Chaeyoung sees as what appears to be fire shoots out from the super powered's hands. 

 

_"We need backup."_

 

_"No! We're fine. Stay up here. Jeongyeon and Nayeon do what we did before. Sana aim better. Tzuyu be ready to punch him."_

 

"Are you sure?" 

 

"This happens all the time. That's why we never rely on plans anymore." 

 

_"Okay! I got him good."_

 

_"I already destroyed his face again."_

 

_"Ew...HE'S FALLING AGAIN! OWWWWW GUYS MY HAND!"_

 

_"Fuck!"_   
  


_"FUCK CHAEYOUNG AND MINA GET DOWN TZUYU IS DOWN!"_

 

Mina sighs. "Be careful. Follow me. Listen. Any wrong move and you might be the one Sana is phasing through." 

 

Chaeyoung nods. "You be careful too." 

 

Mina laughs. "It's my duty to protect you, Chaengie. Jihyo said it."

 

"Remember what I said, Mina. You aren't sacrificing yourself for me. It's better off if I do it for you." 

 

_"GUYS? GET DOWN PLEASE!"_

 

_Coming now. Sorry I'm a bit nervous and was double checking with Mina._

 

"We'll be fine," Mina whispers. "Just do one of those protective shield thingy around him and he'll end up killing himself."

 

"Okay," Chaeyoung says. "Let's go." 

 

Chaeyoung uses her powers to float herself gradually down the building and fall lightly beside Mina. They both run quickly towards their struggling friends. 

 

_"Chaeyoung is going to do a shield."_

 

Chaeyoung quickly forms a shield around the man, holding it tightly. 

 

"Okay, Chaeyoung!" Jihyo yells, smiling. She back hugs her tightly. "We needed a minute to rest." 

 

All of the girls fall to the floor, exhausted and bloody. 

 

"When you feel like you can't do it anymore, we'll all send an attack to him," Jihyo explains. "With all of our powers combined, we're bound to send him to hell." 

 

Chaeyoung feels the attacks the man is sending to the walls of her bubble. She grunts and struggles to hold it together, but she doesn't budge. 

 

"You good, Tiger?" Sana asks, coming up behind her. "We only needed a second, so we can attack now." 

 

Chaeyoung nods. "I'm ready when you are. What do I do?" 

 

"Just stay," Mina says. "We can't risk loosing you." 

 

Chaeyoung nods. "Ready?" 

 

All of the girls nod in unison. 

 

Chaeyoung releases the bubble. All of the girls charge toward the man, throwing balls of light and using their powers against him. He yells and send fire at all of them, even knocking Chaeyoung away and slamming against the building behind her. 

 

She hears cursing and screaming as she goes in and out of consciousness. 

 

"Where's Chaeyoung?" Mina is screaming. Crying, perhaps. 

 

_I'm fine._

 

"Chaeyoung? Oh fuck...can you hear me? Are you okay?" Mina screams. "I can't...I can't get you now." 

 

_I'm fine. I just...I'm uh...a little hurt._

 

"Chaeyoung!" Jihyo screams. "Can you form another b-bubble?" 

 

Chaeyoung forces herself forward and falls onto the floor, banging her head on a brick. She had formed a body sized hole in the building. Her legs begin to hurt. Kill, actually. She can't get up, so she uses her powers to float instead. Her nose is bleeding. She can feel as it trickles down her face and lands on her shirt. It hurt to move her arms, but she needs to move them. She needs to get him in a bubble again. 

 

She's loosing her vision. Everything is blurry and without color, but she can sense everything going around her instead. She lifts her arms up and captures him in another bubble. A weaker bubble, but enough to keep him in. 

 

Mina comes running, tears streaming down her face. She kisses Chaeyoung and if she wasn't concentrating, the man would've been able to get out. 

 

"Chaeyoung," she sobs, hugging her tightly. "I'm sorry for not protecting you. I was blown back by the fire too and-" 

 

"It's fine, Mina," Chaeyoung responds weakly. Her body tickles from all of the blood. "You couldn't have done anything." 

 

"But Momo saved Dahyun." 

 

"She has superspeed." 

 

"I know she does, but I feel like I'm not doing my-" 

 

"Mina," Chaeyoung croaks. She leans her weight on her and focuses all of power on the bubble. "I can't talk about this now. I can't hold this for much longer." 

 

Blood trickles down her neck and her face. Is that...blood in her eyes?

 

Mina gasps. "Guys! She's bleeding! She can't hold it!" 

 

"Already?" Jihyo comes quickly and helps Mina keep Chaeyoung from falling. "Okay. Positions everyone! Chaeyoung you can let go!" 

 

Chaeyoung nods weakly. 

 

_I'm letting go._

 

Chaeyoung releases the bubble. It's the same fighting and more screaming. More blood. 

 

Then everything is fuzzy. She can't quite make out the sounds around her. 

 

She sees Mina. She gets a good hit and then jumps back, avoiding a potential killing hit. 

 

Now they're winning, but still bleeding, getting hit, breaking bones, screaming.

 

Is that...Sana? Is she okay? Is Tzuyu's hand bent backwards like it appears? Is Mina laying on the ground? Where's...where's Jihyo? Momo seems to be a bloody mess and Dahyun's clones are getting sawed apart and burned alive. Weren't they winning?

 

And everything is black. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for posting late! I've been super busy and I've had soooo many tests and stuff! :(
> 
> I may or not be going to a BLACKPINK concert & and I went to a RED VELVET on this monday! Oh boy...
> 
> Posting dates may end up changing, but I'll continue to try to do one a week. I may do one every two weeks instead.


	10. Losing Her

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chaeyoung wakes up days later after their big fight. Did they win or is Emperor ready for a new big move?

**Tuesday, November 20th**

 

"What are you talking about?" 

 

"Mina, listen-" 

 

"No! This is my fault! I can't just..." there is quiet sobs "...I can't just let her go out again if this will happen again." 

 

"We can't just leave her here undefended! We need her out there." 

 

"We can risk killing her! She isn't ready to go out on the battlefield yet! Do you  _see_ these scars? These scans of her body?" 

 

"She's destroyed, Jihyo." 

 

"It isn't Mina's fault. It's my fault for making her do the bubble-"

 

"Jihyo, it's fine, she'll wake up soon and we can see how she's feeling." 

 

And everything goes away again.

 

* * *

 

**Wednesday, November 21st**

 

"Chaeyoung..." a horse voice whispers. "...you've been asleep in a coma for an entire day. Please please wake up and be okay." 

 

"Mina," a quiet voice says, "you need to sleep." 

 

"I can't sleep knowing she's hurt like this." 

 

"You'll know if she's getting worse, Mina. I set the alarms around. If her heart rate goes-" 

 

"Her heart rate is already low enough even with her healing. She's lost more blood just in this day than I have in all the years I've been with the NewPorts. Jihyo, she's dying." 

 

"She isn't." 

 

"Then explain why she isn't responding. She's dead." 

 

"She's not dead yet-" 

 

" _Yet_. It's my fault." 

 

"Mina-" 

 

"Jihyo, I'm not leaving her side. I can't..." her voice cracks and she just begins to cry. 

 

And then it all goes away. 

 

* * *

 

 

**Thursday, November 22nd**

 

"Her heart rate is getting better and her cuts are healing." 

 

"What about her...other stuff?" 

 

"Her bones are healing as well. She might have some...troubles with doing basic stuff, but she should be fine otherwise." 

 

"Trouble doing what?" 

 

"Walking maybe? Her memory should be fine, but her loosing some memories from the past is the least of our problems right now." 

 

"W-what if she forgets me? I love her too much-" 

 

"She'll be fine. The least it'll be is fuzzy. You guys are meant for each other, baby. Even if she does forget you, just get to know her all over again. The most damage it'll cause is short term memory loss or something, Mina. She can heal from this!" 

 

"Chaengie..."  

 

* * *

 

 

**Friday, November 23rd**

 

"Why isn't she waking up? Why isn't she responding? She's alive, but I can't hear her thoughts." 

 

"People don't have thoughts when they're in a coma, baby. Please, just get some slee-" 

 

* * *

 

 

**Saturday, November 24th**

 

_"Chaeyoung?"_

 

_"Chaeyoungggggg?"_

 

_"Chaeyoung I love y-"_

 

Chaeyoung inhales deeply and grabs tightly onto the covers over her. Jihyo and Mina both jump, but quickly scramble to help Chaeyoung sit up. Jihyo has to keep her from falling off the bed. 

 

"Oh god, Chaeyoung," Mina croaks. "Are you okay?" 

 

_Where am I?_

 

"I...uh...yeah? I'm fine," Chaeyoung responds. "Why?" 

 

_Where am I?_

 

Mina and Jihyo exchange quick eye contact and then look back at Chaeyoung. 

 

"You've been in a coma for four days, Chaeyoung," Jihyo explains. "You...got really beat up by the destroyer when you passed out and you were already bleeding everywhere from slamming into the building and overusing your powers. You were practically dead." 

 

"What about everyone else?" Chaeyoung looks around the room. "Are they okay?" 

 

"They weren't as badly hurt as you," Mina responds. "The destroyer tried to kill you before you woke up, so he stopped attacking us and we managed to beat him." 

 

" _You_ managed to beat him," Jihyo corrects. "Mina single handedly blew up his brains and broke all of his bones at the same time. We just burned the body." 

 

"So he's gone then?" Chaeyoung asks. "So we get a break right?" 

 

Jihyo shakes her head guiltily. "We know that Emperor knows you're alive, so no. For you maybe, but not us." Jihyo gets up off the bed and smiles weakly. "You guys can have some time alone. I'll tell the girls that you're up." 

 

Chaeyoung nods and then leans back onto the bed as Jihyo closes the door.

 

Mina immediately kisses Chaeyoung deeply. Her breath hitches as she pulls away. "I thought you died," Mina admits, gulping. "I refused to leave the room until you woke up." 

 

Chaeyoung smiles weakly. "At least I would've died in a cool way." 

 

"I'm serious, Chaeyoung. You almost died. If he hadn't exposed himself like that to us, you wouldn't be in enough pieces for us to even try to heal you. Momo had to steal gear from a hospital just to be able to care for you properly." 

 

"I didn't even know I was gone for four days...I'm sorry for making you nervous." 

 

"You're sorry for going in a coma and being the reason we beat the destroyer?" she shakes her head and laughs sarcastically to herself. "You really are something, Chaeyoung." 

 

"Well, it's my fault our date was ruined." 

 

"How was it your fault? My father's men tried to kill you and there wasn't anything any of us could do." 

 

Chaeyoung winces in pain as she moves her leg. "I guess he re-broke them?" 

 

"Basically every aspect of your body was either smashed or broken." 

 

"What about when I was bleeding from my powers? Did that do anything?" 

 

"Jihyo said you might have trouble walking, but she also said it'll be from the broken everything, so there really isn't a difference. She also mentioned something about memory, but it isn't a big problem, honestly." 

 

"How long until I can get out of bed?" 

 

"It usually takes us around four or five days to heal, but Jihyo wasn't sure about you. Your healing powers are really unique. You seemed to not be healing at all and we were nervous you didn't have healing powers, but then all the sudden, it spiked up and almost every broken bone was healed by just the second day." 

 

Chaeyoung nods. "What have I missed?" 

 

"Just me constantly crying and Sana being all over Tzuyu because she broke her arm and blames it on herself because she phased wrong and Tzuyu missed. Uh...Momo and Dahyun are more clingy....um...Nayeon and Jeongyeon set up our new bed and are talking about raiding my dad's base to save a couple supers. Jihyo decided you'll be training as much as possible as soon as possible as well, so be sure to pretend to still hurt." 

 

"So they're all nervous we're going to loose now?" 

 

"I guess so, yeah. They're scared what happened to you could happen to them or their partner." 

 

Chaeyoung puts her hand on Mina's face and rubs it with her thumb. "Mina," she whispers, "I'll make sure to train as hard as I can. I can't believe you've wasted four entire days waiting in here with me." 

 

"I've been exploring your mind and getting to know you, so it wasn't entirely awful," Mina smiles weakly. "I figured if you were going to die, I could at least know more about you and fall for you even harder just so I really have something to fight for." 

 

"Well, I'm here now and you just know everything." 

 

Mina laughs. "I don't know everything, but enough to  _have_ fallen for you harder. Your high school crush was cute by the way. Though, it's sort of evil that you didn't tell me I wasn't your first kiss." 

 

"It really didn't count, Mina. There wasn't any tongue and we didn't even start dating." 

 

"But someone else's lips have touched your's in the past. And you failed to mention that you own a sex toy?" 

 

"It was a dare, Mina." 

 

"By a highly attractive female who just so happens to be the one who kissed you." 

 

"We were  _drunk."_

 

"You're only eighteen, Chaeyoung," Mina shakes her head and sighs. "You shouldn't be getting drunk at this age." 

 

"Okay, I was a depressed and stupid fifteen-year-old, Mina. I'm not like that anymore." 

 

Mina smiles and hugs Chaeyoung tightly. "Exactly. You're perfect now." 

 

Chaeyoung feels herself blush as she appreciates her girlfriend's embrace.

 

"Promise me you'll be more careful in the battlefield, Chaengie," Mina whispers. 

 

Chaeyoung nods. "I promise." 

 

"Promise me you'll do everything you can to make sure you'll get stronger." 

 

"I promise." 

 

"And promise me you won't use your powers again like you did on the battlefield. It was dangerous, Chae." 

 

"I can't promise that. If something goes wrong, I'm not going to do nothing." 

 

Mina nods. "I understand that." 

 

Mina kisses Chaeyoung lightly and then pulls away, smiling. 

 

"Hey?" a voice says from the doorway. "It's Tzuyu. I know Jihyo said to give you two some time, but I had to make sure you're alright." 

 

Chaeyoung smiles. "I'm fine, Tzuyu. Thank you for checking up on me." 

 

Tzuyu sits down in a seat near the bed Chaeyoung was in. "It was really scary...I mean, he was just punching and kicking and...I don't understand how you're alive, honestly." 

 

Chaeyoung laughs. "Neither do I. Mina tells me you broke your arm?" 

 

Tzuyu rolls her eyes and shakes her head. "Sana's been a mess over it. Even though I'm already healed, she insists I don't use it unless completely necessary." 

 

"Hey Tiger is up!" Sana's voice squeals from the hallway. Sana bolts in and jumps onto her girlfriend's lap. The rest of the girls tumble in after her. 

 

"Hey, Chaeyoung!" Momo shouts, sitting next to Chaeyoung. "How are you feeling?" 

 

"Yeah! You got hit like a million times..." Nayeon continues. 

 

"And your healing was all wonky and we were pretty sure you were dead," Dahyun says. 

 

"Don't forget the blood!" Sana yells. "You were bleeding a lot." 

 

"And your heart was like basically not working, which was super scary," Jeongyeon says. "We honestly thought you were going to die." 

 

"Well, I'm not, so you can all calm down!" Chaeyoung cheers.

 

"Thank the gods above," Mina says under her breath. "I'm not sure what I would've done if I lost you." 

 

"Correction," Jihyo snaps, " _we_ _all_ didn't know what we would do if you actually died." 

 

"I was considering to try to activate your brain myself, but Jihyo said it was too dangerous and I wasn't willing to risk your life," Mina adds. "We agreed we would only do that if it was an emergency." 

 

_An emergency. What did I miss?_

 

Mina flinches. "W-well, we aren't expecting some sort of an emergency at the moment, so rest easy-" 

 

"Don't hide things from her, Mina," Jihyo snaps, "protecting her  _includes_ telling her all of the details in our plan. I know you want her to rest right now, but she needs to know what we're up against" 

 

"Hiding things?" Chaeyoung feels a rush of anger. "Just because you want to protect me doesn't mean you are allowed to hide things from me." 

 

Mina's face turns pale. She looks disgusted in herself. "I-I'm sorry, Chaeyoung I didn't mean to make you mad-" 

 

"No," Chaeyoung snaps, turning away from her girlfriend, "don't try that on me." 

 

Mina's eye glisten with tears. "Chaeyoung, please. Let me at least explain myself." 

 

Chaeyoung sighs and her face loosens up. "Go ahead," she responds.

 

Mina gulps before responding. "Emperor knows your alive now." 

 

"I know that already." 

 

"But we have a plan. We voted on it and I was against it, but everyone else agreed with it." 

 

"So explain what it is," Chaeyoung snaps.  

 

"It basically has you as a big part of it, but you're sick now and resting should be priority, so I think that you-" 

 

"I can do what I need to." 

 

"But risking your life isn't something I'm comfortable with, Chaeyoung," Mina says, pleading silently for some sort of an emotional response from her girlfriend. "I can't just agree to putting you out in battle with an entire broken body. You can't even control your powers enough so that you wouldn't just pass out from using them too much." 

 

Chaeyoung is silent. 

 

MIna continues, "We can't mess up now. Right now, Emperor has you right where he wants you, completely broken and unable to defend yourself. If we don't do something soon, he'll get you, which is where my opinion gets contradicted. Either way the chance of you getting hurt is _way too goddamn high_ ," Mina's eyes begin to tear up and she wipes them away. "I don't want to lose you, Chaeyoung. You need to understand that you're the best thing that's ever happened to me. My life has been nothing but shit upon shit and then I met you and everything just goes away when I'm with you," Mina takes Chaeyoung's hand and holds it closely to herself. "Your entire body is broken and you still need time to heal, but we don't have enough time for that. I can't leave you here without all of us, but I can't just send you out in battle in this condition. I hate seeing you on this bed being monitored on like a thousand machines just to make sure you're healing properly. I could barely handle the four days you were gone. The thought of you being gone for the rest of my life..." Mina shakes her head, "...I'm not sure what I'd do."  

 

Chaeyoung feels tears well up in her eyes as she stares deeply into Mina's eyes. 

 

A tear rolls down Mina's cheek. "Say something, Chaeyoung. Anything." 

 

"I-I...I'm not sure what to say, Mina," Chaeyoung croaks. She ignores her nervous friends around her. "You know I'm willing to take my life for the world and you know I'm willing to obey the rules of Emperor to save you all," Mina wipes the tears in Chaeyoung's eyes. "But I agree. We're caught up in a situation and we need to prioritize the world over each other." 

 

"So what do we do?" Mina asks, turning towards her friends, frowning. 

 

Chaeyoung pulls Mina back to face her, tears streaming down her face. "I think we need to prioritize the world over us." 

 

"What is that supposed to mean?" 

 

"I...think...I think we need to take a break. Just so we know we aren't supposed to protect each other over-" 

 

"Breaking up with me won't change the fact that I love you with my entire being." 

 

"Then you need to stop loving me while we're on missions. Pretend like I did something nasty to you or something." 

 

"I can't just  _stop_ loving you, Chaeyoung." 

 

Chaeyoung groans. "Then don't save me, Mina. It's simple. I'm the target. You're another target. We need to keep  _ourselves_ safe. It hurts to say this, don't get me wrong, but we need to fix us." 

 

"Er...I think we should get going," Tzuyu coughs. "We'll just be in...in the kitchen. You two are the perfect couple, so I trust you'll work this out." 

 

All of the girls give an uncomfortable thumbs up and leave the room. 

 

"Chaeyoung..." Mina's voice disappears and she sobs into Chaeyoung's chest. 

 

Chaeyoung wraps her arms around her and holds her tightly. "I love you, Mina. I do. I really really do, but we're in such a horrible situation right now. Once we solve this, we can be together happily." 

 

"But what if it doesn't work, Chaengie? What if you get caught and you get killed? Not only would I be dealing with losing you, I'd be dealing with knowing you aren't mine anymore." 

 

"I don't want to break up. We didn't do anything wrong. Our relationship is literally perfect." 

 

"So then don't end this," Mina lifts herself up from Chaeyoung's chest and kisses her gently. "I love this. I love kissing you and I love being able to call you my girlfriend. This is what is keeping me sane.  _This_ is what keeps me from breaking down because of this entire thing with my father and my brother and the destroyers. I was a mess before I met you and the reason the girls were so open to us being together and me taking you in was because they know that your my entire world." 

 

Chaeyoung rubs Mina's face gently with her thumb. "Stop making me guilty, Mina." 

 

"I can't stop because I can't lose you. Breaking up won't change the fact that I  _will_ save you if someone comes for you." 

 

"Quit being stupid." 

 

Mina shakes her head. "I can't stop. We've been through so much in our lives. We deserve this. I want to be selfish for once in my life. I don't care if we need to hide in this goddamn basement for the rest of our lives because my dad takes over the world. You've literally been blind your entire life and you haven't experienced everything, so let yourself."

 

"If Emperor wins, I won't be able to see the world," Chaeyoung face turns gentle and she smiles, surprising Mina, "but I think seeing you is good enough. Since...you know...you're my world. When I got my vision back, no one looked like what I thought they would. I got to see the colors and I got to see the faces of the artists I liked. For some reason, nothing felt right and I sort of wanted to be blind again. When I met you, the first thing I thought was, 'Holy shit thank god I have my vision,'" Chaeyoung laughs. "If you think that you don't solve all my problems as well, then you really are the stupidest person I've ever met." 

 

"You really...you really think that?" Mina's face brightens and she smiles. 

 

"I'm trying to do what's best for both of us so that we can have a happy future together. We aren't any normal couple. I mean, first of all, we're both girls. Second, we both have powers and we fight people for living. And third...oh boy...I mean, your dad is literally a psychotic killer who manipulated you and your brother in order to take over the world. When do you find a relationship where someone's dad is willing to murder every person alive to marry their girlfriend?"

 

Mina laughs. "I understand that, yeah." 

 

"I love this, Mina. I do. Breaking up obviously won't work, but we need to learn that we aren't the only people in the world who needs protection. You can't just choose me. I'm the weakest of all of you. Me dying could actually solve this, too."

 

"But I'm not just going to _let you die!_ " 

 

"I'm not telling you to. I'm saying if...let's say Jihyo and I were both at gunpoint and we couldn't escape, you save Jihyo and then save me after." 

 

"But what if I can't save you as well?" 

 

"Let my healing kick in." 

 

"But you'll be dead already." 

 

"Too bad." 

 

Mina groans. "This is so hard. All of the girls learned how to deal with this, so why can't I?" 

 

"You've been sheltered from relationships all your life. This is your first one, isn't it?" 

 

"Yeah." 

 

"It's mine, too," Chaeyoung sighs. "I guess we could just depend on the other girls because now that I think about it, I don't think I could make the decision of saving someone else over you, but the thought of not saving the other person..." Chaeyoung's face falls. 

 

"That's exactly how I feel," Mina says. "It's like a need to save you, but I'm not allowed." 

 

"So then let's stick together. We're a good team, so we're better off that way anyways." 

 

"So you're going to come out in battle with us?" 

 

"I have to." 

 

"Right..." 

 

"If I stay here, we're screwed.  _I'm_ screwed. You can't sacrifice a single person out in battle because you need them all."

 

"Plus, we need to just end this. This game of him attacking us is getting old and annoying." 

 

"All I need is a couple days to heal and train. I already have pretty good control of my powers." 

 

"I guess I'm underestimating you. Sorry." 

 

"It's fine. I'm happy that you care." 

 

"I don't think we have the time that you need though."

 

"Then we stay in hiding. It's very simple. He can't attack something he can't get to." 

 

"That's a good point I guess." 

 

"Worst comes to worst, we kill all of the clones that get in here. We could close down the Cafe so no one could even get it." 

 

"Won't that give away our location? A suspicious Cafe in which my father already  _thinks_ is our base gets shut down right when the supers he's chasing needs to go into hiding the most."

 

"What other choice do we have, Mina?" 

 

"None." 

 

"So..." 

 

"We tell the girls to close the Cafe." 

 

Chaeyoung nods. "We tell the girls," Chaeyoung smiles and then laughs. "But I sort of can't get up right now." 

 

"We'll tell them in a bit," Mina responds. "You need to rest, so can't we just stay here for a bit? I've missed you." 

 

Chaeyoung takes Mina's hand and holds it tightly. "Sure." 

 

Mina kisses Chaeyoung deeply, running her hand on Chaeyoung's cheek, stopping to feel the scars of Chaeyoung's face from the battle. She's careful to avoid certain parts of Chaeyoung's jaw, knowing it is still bruised and most likely sore to the touch. She pulls back for a moment, smiling as she connects eyes with Chaeyoung. 

 

"I love you," Mina whispers, kissing Chaeyoung again. "I love you so much." 

 

"I love you too," Chaeyoung responds. She kisses her. 

 

Mina shakes her head. "You don't understand, Chaeyoung. I  _love you._ I loooooove you. You're my entire world, that's how much I love you. I'm not going to leave your side until you're completely healed." 

 

"That's sweet, Mina," Chaeyoung says, "it means the world to me. You mean the world to me. I'm sorry about before-" 

 

Mina places her finger gently on Chaeyoung's lips, making her go quiet. "It's okay. We're fine now, so it's okay. You're my girlfriend and I'm your's. I'm  _your's._ I mean, I  _love_ the fact that I'm your's." 

 

"I'm sorry I almost took that away from you." 

 

"It would've been fine. I trust you and I'll agree with everything you choose to do." 

 

"But that would've broken you, wouldn't it?" 

 

Mina smiles weakly. "Yeah, but I wouldn't have tried to change your opinion and I would've made sure to follow what you said about..." Mina's smile fades. "...about you know, not always choosing you." 

 

Chaeyoung wraps her arms around Mina's neck and smiles brightly. "Well, I'm all your's." 

 

"Correction, I'm your's." 

 

"B-but...we're girlfriends, therefore I'm also your's." 

 

"But I don't like to think that I own you because I don't. It's different with me because you  _do_ own me and nothing can change that." 

 

Chaeyoung laughs nervously. "Why are so cooped up about the fact that I own you? I mean, we're girlfriends so...I'm also your's." 

 

Mina blushes. "I guess it makes me feel a bit better about myself or something. I don't really know." 

 

"So..." Chaeyoung chokes on her words. "...a kink...you...you have a kink, Mina." 

 

Mina coughs. "Excuse me? No! I'm not...I'm not like that!" Mina's face in bright red and she buries her face in her hands. 

 

"O-oh..." Chaeyoung's face is red as well. "Sorry." 

 

Mina groans. "Quit apologizing for everything."

 

"It's respect." 

 

"It makes you seem like you were teacher's pet all of your schooling." 

 

"I was not!" 

 

Mina smirks. "Your memories say otherwise." 

 

"Oh shut it you-" 

 

"Mina?" Jihyo comes into the room, panting. "Can we talk for a second? I got the uh...results of the test."

 

Mina's face turns pale. "Are they bad?" 

 

"I'm afraid so." 

 

"How bad?" 

 

"Can we...talk in another room?" Jihyo bites her lip nervously.

 

"Wait!" Chaeyoung shouts. "Why can't I hear? I thought you said no secrets!" 

 

"Y-yeah we did, but this is...we need to discuss this before we talk to you about it. Drink some of the water on the table next to you while were gone," Mina smiles. "I love you." 

 

Chaeyoung pouts, upset that she's missing out on something. "I love you too." 

 

Mina walks out the door with Jihyo. 

 

"Is she okay?" she quickly asks. "Please tell me she's-" 

 

"She's not, Mina. I'm so sorry," Jihyo responds. "She needs to train a lot more," she shakes her head. "The amount of damage her brain took was so horrible. I don't understand how she was even capable of anything right now." 

 

"It's that bad?" 

 

"It's worse." 

 

"Her healing stopped." 

 

"No..." 

 

"I'm sorry, Mina. It was my fault I asked her to help us-" 

 

"No, Jihyo, don't blame this on yourself."

 

"I have to. She's dying. She's happy as hell, but she's dying." 

 

"What about her heart?" 

 

"The beating is irregular again." 

 

Mina shakes her head and buries her head in her hands. "So I'm going to lose her." 

 

"Not necessarily. We were talking back in the kitchen and we thought that maybe the crystal could help her," Jihyo groans. "But we don't know how much of it we'd need." 

 

"We have half..." Mina leans against the door frame. "...but I can't just make her use the crystals. She made it clear that there's something in it that haunts her." 

 

"Dahyun said it's just because the crystals aren't combined." 

 

"What if it just makes the voices worse?" 

 

"We can't guarantee anything, but what we can is that the crystals might save her. Her powers are killing her." 

 

Mina's eyes tear up and she shakes her head as they fall down her face. "I'm going to lose her. There's no way we can convince her to rebuild the gloves." 

 

"Oh right...she broke them." 

 

"Correction, destroyed them." 

 

"Now there isn't a cure unless we can manage to build a new stable device for the crystals." 

 

"Can't she just harbor it herself?" 

 

"You mean...the transfer device we stole?" 

 

"It'll give her the powers of the crystals...so isn't it worth a shot?" 

 

"But then she'll get taken over by the demons on the crystals. She isn't powerful enough to be able to control herself with that much going on." 

 

Mina sighs in defeat and bangs her head against the door frame she's leaning on. "I can't believe I'm going to fucking lose her. Everything is 'too dangerous' and 'too risky to lose' and..." Mina wipes the tears on her face. "...Chaeyoung will be completely against using the crystals knowing what it's done for her in the past." 

 

Jihyo's face falls and she puts a reassuring hand on Mina's shoulder. "We'll solve this. I'm going to go back to the girls to see if there is another solution if she says no." 

 

"Can I come?" 

 

Jihyo shakes her hand. "You need to tell her." 

 

"How..." Mina struggles to catch her breath. "...how am I supposed to tell her she's dying...when...when  _I_ can barely handle it!" 

 

"It's her right to know she's dying." 

 

"Either you're going in or I am. I'm sure she would be  _thrilled_ to know her own girlfriend didn't tell her the news and instead someone she barely knows does." 

 

"Jihyo, she thinks of you guys as family. She looks up to you." 

 

"Just go talk to her, Mina," Jihyo pulls Mina into a hug. "We'll do everything we can to solve this. We all know how much she means to you." 

 

Jihyo pulls away from the hug and leaves Mina by herself. Mina gulps, holding onto the doorknob of the room Chaeyoung is in. 

 

She opens it. 

 

"Chaeyoung," she croaks, immediately getting overwhelmed by her emotions, "I have some really really bad news." 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi Hiiiii! 
> 
> Thanks for reading this farrrrr! 
> 
> I hope your enjoying the story so far and I'd like to announce the fact that I'm most likely going to the BLACKPINK concert!


	11. (Convincing Her) It'll Be Okay

(cont. from chapter 9) 

 

"Bad...news?" Chaeyoung replies, confused. "Is everyone okay?"

 

Mina sits beside Chaeyoung, keeping herself from breaking down before she can speak. "Everyone is fine." 

 

"So then what's the bad news?" 

 

Mina gulps. "It...is you. W-well, you aren't a problem, it's just...you have...a problem." 

 

"I have an issue? What are you talking about?" 

 

"W-well...er...your healing stopped suddenly and you're brain took a lot of damage and Jihyo is...is nervous that it's your powers that are doing it. She talked with the girls and they have a solution. I'm not really sure exactly what we would do, but I do know that I would include rebuilding our own version of your gloves and...basically...giving it to you." 

 

"Oh. And what will happen if I chose to not do the gloves?" 

 

"You can't come out in battle, use your powers, or basically unhook yourself from any of our wires." 

 

"So I die-" 

 

"You won't die. Not yet. We aren't sure if your healing has stopped completely, so there is still hope." 

 

"But I don't want to put those gloves on again or be stuck here..." Chaeyoung's eyes tear up as she looks at Mina. "Mina I don't want to be stuck living a horrible life in this bed, but I don't want to hear those voices again. I didn't know what they were saying when I was younger, but now...now I understand why they said they'd be with me forever." 

 

Mina takes Chaeyoung's hand and holds it tightly. "You know I hate seeing you like this and if you're stuck on machines and medications, we'll never be able to go on dates and sleep together or be able to cuddle without a bunch of wires choking us to death." Mina runs her open hand over the breathing tube under Chaeyoung's nose. "I'm not telling you to see if the crystals work if your healing stops, but it's worth it to hear a couple scary voices so that you don't die." 

 

Chaeyoung nods. "I mean...when you put it that way it doesn't sound so bad, but...they tell me horrible things. Now that I have something to lose, I'm scared that they'll take control and try to hurt you." 

 

"We can just put you in the shield and keep you in there while it does it's work." 

 

"I...I guess. But what about if it doesn't work?" 

 

"Then we can just figure it out then." Mina places a soft kiss on Chaeyoung's forehead. "I'm not going to let this hurt you, so I'll let you know now that we're going to solve this." 

 

Chaeyoung nods. 

 

_"Any progress on research?"_

 

_"Nada. We noticed that Chaeyoung's healing has been dimming progressively, so I'm not sure when it's coming back. I just ran a body scan and there isn't any sign of anything that could be causing this, so unless she's...agreed with using the crystals, we don't have any other solution."_

 

_Mina talked to me about it and I'd be stupid if I chose to die than to listen to a bunch of voices. Yeah, it'll be a horrible experience to have them control my body again, but at least I know it'll be for a good cause._

 

Mina laughs. 

 

_"We'll need to lock her up in the shield and make sure her powers can't go out of it."_

 

_They aren't very nice when it comes to...well...being nice._

 

_"Can she survive around twenty minutes of preparation off the machines?"_

 

_"Yeah."_

 

_"So..."_

 

_"We'll start setting up. Uh...Momo and Sana are coming over now to unhook Chae."_

 

Mina laughs again. "Momo and Sana are apart of our 'cheer up' crew. Obviously, since Jihyo is sending them here, she's trying to make sure you feel your best in such...unique circumstances." 

 

Chaeyoung smiles. "I'm glad to know she cares." 

 

"They all care a lot about you. In these couple days, they've been in and out making sure you're okay and making sure your phone is charged for when you wake up." 

 

Chaeyoung laughs. "They charged my phone?" 

 

"And downloaded games." 

 

"I'll play them when we're all finished then, I guess." 

 

Sana and Momo both burst through the door with what appears to be a glittery poster in hand. 

 

Sana smiles brightly and holds up the poster for Chaeyoung to see. It reads, 'Welcome Back IRL Chaengie!' 

 

Chaeyoung has to keep herself from snorting, afraid the tube in her nose will just fly out and wack someone in the face. 

 

"We've been called down to make sure you're feeling okay about this whole thingy," Momo says, pushing Mina out of the way to sit next to Chaeyoung. 

 

Sana sits on the other side, laughing when she sees Mina pout. "We've been sent to cuddle you too!" 

 

"Jihyo actually said, 'Do whatever you think is necessary to make sure Chaeyoung feels the most confident about our plan. Make sure she know's it'll work and she'll be okay,'" Momo adds. "Jihyo is like acting like your mother or something." 

 

"She doesn't baby us like that anymore," Sana says, pouting. "She still does with Mina and Tzuyu, but we know why. Tzuyu is literally the youngest and Mina is just a big baby." 

 

Mina grunts. "I'm not a baby." 

 

"You're Jihyo-sii's baby!" Momo cheers. "She's loved every second of raising you right." 

 

Mina sighs. "Chaeyoung can replace me as Jihyo's baby. Jihyo may have helped create the me of today, but Chaeyoung could sure use some advice on her powers as well." 

 

Sana giggles. "So now it's baby-Tiger-Chaengie!" 

 

Chaeyoung laughs. "Tiger Chaengie?" 

 

"It's cute, isn't it?" Momo asks, her eyes going wide. "Sana and I made it up when you first moved in with us." 

 

"Cause' you remind us of a baby tiger," Sana adds. "Just like Mina reminds us of a penguin because of the way she walks." 

 

Chaeyoung looks over at Mina, wide-eyed. "Penguin? Please start calling her that!"

 

Mina looks back at Chaeyoung, a horrified expression on her face. "Y-you wouldn't!"

 

Sana shakes her head, her laughter turning into deep gasps for breath. "BABY-PENGU-MINARI!" she screams. 

 

Mina sighs in defeat. "Thanks a lot, Chaengie," she mutters. "Now I'm the baby and a penguin." 

 

Chaeyoung smiles in response and says, "Well, it's cute, so you'll have to deal with it." 

 

Mina only laughs and smiles in response as Sana and Momo continue to cuddle Chaeyoung and make sure she's feeling happy.

 

After a couple minutes, Tzuyu, Jihyo, and Nayeon walk through the door. Chaeyoung notices Sana's smile grow even more when she notices Tzuyu. She could almost feel how much Sana cares for Tzuyu's presence. For a couple seconds, Chaeyoung feels guilty for existing and forcing them to be apart for the little bit of time they were.

 

"Your healing seems to be returning," Nayeon says, leaning on the bottom of the bed Chaeyoung lays on, "but we've got a problem." 

 

"It's coming back slowly and we've never seen anything like this before. We think it has something to do with your powers and you not being able to control them completely. We were thinking and we realized you may have been attempting to control them incorrectly and hurting yourself in the process. Though, we figured out that what is happening to your healing now is the completely opposite of what happened to Mina's when she lost her telekinesis, so we think your powers might be adapting to the way you chose to use them," Jihyo adds. 

 

Tzuyu nods before speaking. "Dahyun and I looked back at an old notebook where we had written down the up and downs of Mina's powers during her time of power shifting and we also figured out that the numbers on your screen are literally the completely opposite of Mina's. Her healing skyrocketed at 300% healing rate, which made stabs heal in seconds. Your's is at a -200% healing rate, 300% less than your normal 100% healing. Your healing powers are putting damage on your brain and body and is basically causing your body is slowly decay as if you were a dead body." 

 

Chaeyoung opens her mouth in surprise. "But it's going back to normal?" 

 

"And with that," Nayeon responds nodding, "your power levels are going up as well." 

 

"So I won't have to do the gloves?" Chaeyoung practically shouts in glee, smiling.

 

"As far as we're concerned now, you do need to," Tzuyu says. "Although your healing is returning, we can't risk it going away again and the gloves will help speed up the process so you can get out of this bed, but besides that, you're free to start with trying to walk and seeing if your bones are healed." 

 

"Oh thank god," Chaeyoung whispers to herself, putting her head in her hand to hide the tears in her eyes. 

 

She feels a shift in the bed and arms put around her neck. She looks up to see Sana replaced with a smiling, teary-eyed Mina staring happily at her. 

 

"I can't believe I doubted that you would turn around," Mina admits, wiping her tears and Chaeyoung's with her other hand. "I thought I was going to lose you, but," she laughs, "I guess I'm not as unlucky as I thought I am." 

 

Chaeyoung places a kiss on Mina's forehead only to heard someone clearing their throat. Chaeyoung whips her head around to look at the person. Momo. 

 

Momo smiles. "Should we celebrate the news with our very very special meals?" 

 

Jihyo rolls her eyes. "Only if Jeongyeon agrees. You know how much food I need to make for all of you pigs." 

 

Momo continues, "No. Not just any meal, Jihyo.  _The_ meal. Like my  _birthday_ meal." 

 

"What's so special about the birthday meal?" Chaeyoung asks, only to receive looks from all the girls.

 

"Momo's favorite meal has some stuff from other countries in it. She has to run all around the globe just to be able to make it," Mina explains. 

 

Nayeon laughs. "It'll be like...celebrating Chaeyoung healing, us beating a special, and Chaeyoung surviving the gloves." 

 

"Surviving? I thought I couldn't get hurt." Chaeyoung says, her voice shaking. 

 

"You won't get hurt, but assuming the 'voices' are as controlling as you said, we're just assuming you may become violent, which is why we're going to place you into the shield," Tzuyu responds. "Nayeon just used a more intense word." 

 

Chaeyoung exhales, calming herself down. "Oh okay." 

 

Mina nudges Chaeyoung's shoulder and smiles when they connect eyes. 

 

"It'll be fine," Mina says. "If you'd like, I could try to convince Jihyo to let me come in there with you-" 

 

"I can't chance hurting you," Chaeyoung responds quickly. 

 

"I don't want you to hurt yourself, Chaeng," Mina says softly, running her hand through Chaeyoung's hair. 

 

"Chaeyoung has a good point, but, Chaeng, don't you think Mina being there might...calm down the voices?" Jihyo asks. 

 

Chaeyoung shakes her head. "As fair as I'm concerned, the last time I talked to him, he wasn't very fond of Mina." 

 

"I could use my powers," Mina responds. "I can be very powerful if I want to be." 

 

"I'm not risking it," Chaeyoung snaps. "Nothing you will say will convince me. The voices are powerful and I can't even recall what happened half of the times I used the gloves in the past, so I can't make conscious decisions to  _not_ hurt Mina. Or any of you for that matter." 

 

"Fine," Jihyo says, "but we're staying on guard. Just in case something goes wrong." 

 

"It always does," Tzuyu snaps. "We need everyone to be on guard. We've seen how powerful Chaeyoung is. I know she wouldn't hurt us on purpose, but she  _can_ kill us if she wanted to." 

 

"What are you assuming about Chaeyoung?" Mina quickly snaps back. 

 

"Nothing," Tzuyu responds calmly. "I'm just saying she'll be even better with her powers with the part of the crystal we have attached to her. She might not want to hurt us, but she still can and most likely will." 

 

"She's completely correct, Mina," Chaeyoung says, placing a hand on Mina's shoulder. "Don't defend my demons." 

 

"Demons? Chaeyoung, what the hell even are these voices? We're literally planning to prepare all of us to guard you just in case you try to  _kill_ us." Mina turns to Jihyo. "What the hell are these crystals if they're capable of these things?" 

 

Jihyo sighs. "Well, the crystals are inhabited by the souls of  _something._ We don't know who or what, but they're like a god or something as far as we've determined. The crystals each have different emotions...in a way. While away from others, they're like demons, which makes it harder for people to use them for power. Since we're only using one because two would be too much to handle, Chaeyoung has to deal with a very grumpy soul stuck in a rock." 

 

"But why does this 'soul' want to hurt us?" Mina asks. 

 

"He doesn't want us to use his power. It's basically like if someone came up to you and is using you for your power," Jihyo answers. "It's not like he's naturally evil or something, but he's just seeing if Chaeyoung is deserving of his powers. When she used the gloves a couple days ago, he probably just saw the rage coming from Chaeyoung because of the battle and figured she wasn't worthy." 

 

"And she'll be worthy now?" 

 

"He'll know she has a soft side, but until he determines it, she's his to take over." 

 

"Can't I do something with my powers?" 

 

Jihyo shakes her head frantically. "Don't even dare and try. He'll probably take over you too and that will  _not_ end well." 

 

"Oh." 

 

"So....are we going to do it now...or?" Chaeyoung asks quietly.

 

Jihyo and Mina both turn towards Chaeyoung. 

 

Jihyo smiles. "Yeah. Uh...you all go set it up. Mina you stay." 

 

The rest of the girls nod and leave the room, closing the door behind them. 

 

"You'll be fine," Jihyo says softly, "the voices are going to be mean and they're going to say that they'll hurt us, but all you need to do is talk to them in your head and it'll be okay. If anything goes wrong, we're going to be right there."

 

Chaeyoung nods, giving Jihyo a fake smile. "Okay." 

 

"Plus," Mina adds, "when you're done..." she smiles, "...we're going to celebrate with the best tasting food you'll ever have in your  _life._ " 

 

Jihyo rolls her eyes and then turns back to Chaeyoung. "Worst comes to worst, we remove the gloves, but you only need them on for a couple minutes to put your powers back on track." 

 

"What about if you can't get them off, though?" Chaeyoung asks. "I'll be even more powerful than usual and that could be a real problem." 

 

Jihyo smiles softly. "The chances of you getting powerful and beating us up is one hundred percent worth the risk because if it goes right, you'll be healed and perfectly able to defend yourself." 

 

"We need to make sure that you're okay before Emperor figures out that you aren't," Mina joins. "This is putting us ahead and it'll help me sleep at night." 

 

Chaeyoung laughs. "That makes me feel a lot better I guess." 

 

"Well," Jihyo laughs. "It better because the girls will be done any second-" 

 

"We're done!" Jeongyeon screams from the training room. 

 

Mina laughs. "And that our signal." 

 

Jihyo smiles as she looks at Mina and Chaeyoung one last time before speaking. "I'll let Mina do the work because I'm sure she'll get jealous if I touch her girlfriend." 

 

Mina blushes. "I'm not that possessive, Jihyo." 

 

Jihyo shrugs and makes her way out of the room, leaving the door open. 

 

"Okay, Chaeng, do  _not_ use your powers," Mina says. "You're still weak and it could bring you back into your coma." 

 

Chaeyoung nods. 

 

Mina shifts herself on the bed and slowly removes the tube from Chaeyoung nose. After she done, she places her hand on Chaeyoung's cheek, wiping away the blood with her other hand. She kisses Chaeyoung gently and then pulls away, smiling. 

 

"You looked cute staring at me like that, so I couldn't keep myself from kissing you," Mina giggles.

 

Chaeyoung's face turns hot. "T-thanks?" 

 

Mina rolls her eyes and removes the IV from Chaeyoung's arm. "You don't have to thank me for being very very in love with my girlfriend." 

 

Chaeyoung smiles. "Oh shut up, you dork." 

 

Mina laughs. She sits next to Chaeyoung and wraps her arms around Chaeyoung more comfortably now that all of the tubes and wires are out of the way. She exhales loudly and then faces Chaeyoung.   
  


"You know, I never thought I'd fall in love with someone I met off the street. I always thought I would end up with Jihyo even though I've never thought of her of more than an older sister." Mina sighs loudly. "But for some reason, the day I met you, I just felt this connection even though quite honestly, I'm really not supposed to. I figured I could just help you out with your powers and protect you from my dad, but...god I fell so hard for you when we met officially the next day." 

 

Chaeyoung laughs. "And I kind of thought I might end up single for life. Looks like life really did work out for us." 

 

Mina leans her head on Chaeyoung's shoulder and they rest there for a couple moments until Mina finally gets up. 

 

"Welp," she says. "We should get over to the training room and get the gloves over with." 

 

Chaeyoung nods and holds her hands out for Mina to take. Mina sighs, gets up, and helps Chaeyoung get off the bed. She wraps her arms around her, allowing Chaeyoung to put all of her weight on her as they walk out of the room and join the others in the training room.

 


	12. Protecting Her From The Flames

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The NewPorts get a goddamn view of how powerful Chaeyoung really can be and how her demons may just save them all. (o peggiorare le cose)

(cont from last chapter) 

 

Chaeyoung leans her head back again and shifts her wait, trying to get comfortable with all of the chains, wires, and ropes around her. They have her seated the farthest away from the entrance of the training room. All of her friends are hovering over her nervously, making sure the machine is stable and the stuff around is her is tight enough so that she can't get out if anything goes wrong. 

 

"You look nervous," Tzuyu points out.

 

Chaeyoung laughs, embarrassed. "You got me there, Tzu." 

 

Tzuyu smiles shyly. "I'm sure you've heard this about eight hundred times already, but I'll just say it again." She laughs lightly. "It'll be fine. We have everything under control." 

 

Chaeyoung nods, exhaling loudly to keep herself calm like Dahyun told her to do. ("The calmer you are when you aren't with the crystals," Dahyun said, "the less lightly you are to go completely berserk. Though..." she sighed. "...we honestly are just assuming everything we say.") 

 

Tzuyu walks away and finds her place in a seat outside of the shield beside Sana. Chaeyoung isn't surprised when Sana pulls her onto her laps and hugs her tightly. She smiles, sighing deeply to herself. 

 

Mina stops in front of her and gives Chaeyoung an annoyed look. "What's with the sighing? You're dating me, cutie." 

 

Chaeyoung feels a blush rise to her cheeks. That nickname might kill her if Mina continues calling her it. "C-cutie? D-did you just call me cutie?" 

 

Mina shrugs. "It's the first thing that came to mind." 

 

"That might give me a heart attack." 

 

Mina smiles and plants a sloppy kiss on Chaeyoung's forehead. "We wouldn't want that, would we?" 

 

Chaeyoung shakes her head. "We would  _not._ " 

 

"Hey, Chaengie!" Jihyo yells from the other side of shield. 

 

"Yeah?" Chaeyoung responds. 

 

"Everything is set up and ready to go," Jihyo replies. "We're ready to turn it on when you are." 

 

Chaeyoung nods and turns back to face Mina. "This is it. Promise me you'll ignore everything I say." 

 

"I promise," Mina responds. 

 

"Promise me you won't let me hurt you." 

 

"I can't do that." 

 

"Fine. Then promise me that if something goes wrong-" 

 

"I'm saving you." 

 

"N-no. I was going to say don't." 

 

"I'm still going to. I love you, but I can't just let you get hurt. Or worse." 

 

Chaeyoung nods in defeat. "At least promise me you won't do anything insane that will result in you getting really hurt." 

 

"Fine. I promise." 

 

Chaeyoung smiles weakly as Mina kisses her. It's gentle and almost calms Chaeyoung down completely. 

 

"I love you, cutie," Mina whispers. 

 

"I love you too," Chaeyoung responds. 

 

"Just calm down." 

 

"I'm calm. Your kisses help." 

 

Mina smiles shyly. She kisses Chaeyoung again, this one a bit more deepened. Chaeyoung feels the calmness and warmth of Mina's embrace again. 

 

"You know I love you a lot," Mina says again, beginning to walk away from Chaeyoung to exit the shield. "I always will."

 

Chaeyoung blushes. 

 

"Can you two shut up for like...eight seconds," Jeongyeon mutters. "I can feel your affection." 

 

"Deal with it!" Nayeon shouts back, pulling Jeongyeon into a tight hug and smiling brightly. "You have me as a girlfriend, so don't be messing with them because I'm a million times worse!" 

 

Chaeyoung laughs lightly to herself and watches as the rest of the girls find their way out of the shield. 

 

"We're locking you in now," Jihyo says. She clicks a button next to the entrance. The shield around Chaeyoung changes it's color from blue to a light pink and becomes slightly more visible to the eye. "And now we're turning it on. Keep calm because you'll feel a little-" 

 

"Rush," Chaeyoung snaps. "I know." Chaeyoung blinks, surprised by her own attitude. "Oh sorry. I guess it's kicking it quick." 

 

_"Hello again."_

 

Chaeyoung flinches at the booming voice in her head. 

 

_Hello, demon._

 

_"You're a lot less tense then the last time we met. Perhaps...you've learned my significant power."_

 

"You're doing great, Chaeyoung!" Sana cheers. "Keep it up!" 

 

_"Who's that?"_

 

_A friend of mine._

 

_"She seems like she cares about you quite a lot."_

 

_She's just naturally that way._

 

_"Yes. It would truly be a shame if you perhaps...killed her."_

 

_I wouldn't ever._

 

Chaeyoung feels arms and legs twitching. He's taking control. 

 

_"But I would."_

 

"Are you okay, Chaengie?" Momo asks. 

 

"I...uh-" 

 

_"It would truly be a shame if one of them were tricked to come in here and I killed them."_

 

Chaeyoung winces. 

 

_Please don't._

 

_"Too late. Perhaps...blood. Lots of it. Oh this'll be fun."_

 

Chaeyoung breaks free of the wires and things around her, being sure to avoid the crystal and the machine keeping it to her. She curses to herself and tries to regain control, but the demon is way too strong.

 

_Stop._

 

_"You shouldn't have been mean to me before, Miss Son. I'm more powerful than you understand."_

 

Chaeyoung falls to the ground, gripping her hair tightly. Her head is pounding. 

 

"Can I-" Mina's voice cracks

 

"Mina, no," Jihyo responds.

 

"Please-" 

 

"No. Not yet." 

 

Chaeyoung screams, trying to adapt to the pain or attempt to ignore it. 

 

_"You shouldn't underestimate a higher being, Miss Son."_

 

_I didn't know what you were._

 

_"You need to pay the price for your stupidity."_

 

The pain continues to grow and Chaeyoung's banging her head on the floor at this point. 

 

"S-stop..." Chaeyoung groans. "M-mina, d-don't worry." 

 

"Jihyo, please," Mina begs.

 

"She's unstable," Jihyo quickly responds.

 

"Jihyo-" 

 

"She can hurt you." 

 

"I'm okay with that, Jihyo. Please just let me go." 

 

"Mina-" 

 

"Please. It kills me to see her this way." 

 

"She has her powers. She  _can_ kill you. That's why she's in the shield." 

 

_"I'm looking forward to murdering your love, Miss Son."_

 

Chaeyoung groans. "D-don't, Mina." 

 

"C-chaeyoung...can I come in," Mina asks, her voice filled with desperation as she fights back tears.

 

_No._

 

The pain stops. 

 

_"Yes."_

 

_Please don't-_

 

"Come on in, love," Chaeyoung says. But it's not Chaeyoung. It's the demon. He's in control. 

 

"Mina," Jihyo snaps, putting her arm around Mina tightly. "She's not Chaeyoung." 

 

"That's Chaeyoung," Mina shoots back.

 

"It's the demon, Mina. Trust me." 

 

"She's fine." 

 

"That's what he wants you to think, Mina, please-" 

 

"Jihyo." 

 

"Give. Her. Time." 

 

Chaeyoung growls. "Why the fuck won't you come to me, Minari? I'm okay!" 

 

Mina flinches. 

 

"Come on, Mina!" Chaeyoung grinds her teeth. "You think I'll kill you?" 

 

Mina flinches again. 

 

"You stupid shit!" Chaeyoung screams. "Come on in!" 

 

"It isn't her," Jihyo repeats. "You know that." 

 

_Stop._

 

_"Not until you get what you deserve."_

 

_Please._

 

_"No."_

 

"Chaeyoung," Mina croaks. "You're in there." 

 

"She's nowhere," Chaeyoung snaps back. "She's mine." 

 

"She's not your's forever, mister," Sana snaps. "You're being turned off in only a couple minutes." 

 

Chaeyoung growls. "Then she'll die in a couple minutes." 

 

"You wouldn't," Tzuyu yells. "If she dies, you die." 

 

"No. I just..." Chaeyoung smiles. "...disappear. Until the next person comes along and lets me live." 

 

"We have your brothers," Jihyo says, "but if you kill her, we won't put you with them." 

 

Chaeyoung's face turns to a surprised expression. "You...what?" 

 

"We have...we have other pieces of the crystal," Jihyo continues. "And if you hurt Chaeyoung, we won't ever connect the crystals again." 

 

Chaeyoung blinks her eyes rapidly. "And...why should I care? I'm powerful enough without them." 

 

_You truly are stubborn._

 

_"Shut up, Son."_

 

"Chaeyoung is worthy, sir," Dahyun says, "we know how you work. Chaeyoung is the most powerful we've ever seen and she wouldn't ever hurt a fly on purpose."

 

"And why should I trust your word, Jihyo?" Chaeyoung snaps. "You're only a speck of dust in this universe. In _my_ universe." 

 

Jihyo takes a deep breath in. "I'm the leader of this group; the NewPorts. We fight the bad guys. They have...your other brothers and they want to use you to take over the world and do bad. They'll hurt people, but we're going to stop them. That's why we need you to cooperate." 

 

_"Is this information correct?"_

 

_Yes. That's why we're using you to heal me._

 

_"And you will do no bad?"_

 

_The only bad I'd do would be to hurt the bad people. If you'd just trust me, we can end all of your worries._

 

_"And why can I trust your word, Son?"_

 

_We can make a pact._

 

_"How?"_

 

Chaeyoung slumps onto the floor and sighs, thinking. 

 

_I'm willing to do anything to protect these girls. I don't have anything to prove it exactly, but I give you permission to control me when it's needed, that way you know I'm always going to do the right thing._

 

_"Are you requesting me to enter you as your power source?"_

 

_Uh...what?_

 

_"If you'd like, if you place me on your wrist, I can connect myself to your nerves and extend your powers even more than they are now."_

_So you'd...uh...make me more powerful?_

 

_"Precisely, Miss Son."_

 

_I guess. But...would I be able to remove you when I need to?_

 

_"Yes. I can enter and exit your wrist as you please. You've passed the test of worthiness. Feel proud, Miss Son. I've been alive for awhile now and the only person I've ever found worthy was you."_

 

_Thank you._

 

_"So, Miss Son, if you don't mind removing me from this machine so I can connect to you."_

 

_Oh sorry._

 

_"And don't worry about my voice. I'll only come out when you activate the crystal."_

 

_How do I activate it?_

 

_"Just call me."_

 

Chaeyoung nods. She clicks the button on the vest on her chest and the crystal and machines come off with her. She picks up the vest and exhales loudly as she takes the crystal out. 

 

"What are you doing, Chaeyoung?" Jihyo asks, clicking the buttons on her remote frantically along with the shield.

 

"He...uh...told me to put him on my wrist," Chaeyoung responds blankly. "He said I'm worthy." 

 

Mina's eyebrows go up. "He said that?" 

 

Chaeyoung nods proudly. "He said I can use his powers." 

 

"Whoa," Dahyun says. "And I was sitting here thinking she was about to kill us." 

 

Chaeyoung laughs. "Well...I'm gonna do it." 

 

Chaeyoung places the crystal gently on her arm, expecting something, but nothing happens. She groans and goes to pick the crystal up, but it doesn't budge.

 

"It's...uh...stuck...?" Chaeyoung croaks. "It's on my wrist. Oh that's so weird!" 

 

The girls make their way over to Chaeyoung, all pushing each other to see the crystal. 

 

"It's so pretty," Jeongyeon says. "I've never even seen it in any of my visions." 

 

"Or in the timeline," Nayeon says. "There was no crystal on your wrist in any of the timelines I've lived in." 

 

"So...I'm going against reality?" Chaeyoung asks, confused. 

 

"Uh...yeah?" Nayeon responds, her voice raising. 

 

"H-how..." Jeongyeon buries her head in her hands. "This has  _never_ happened. I've had control for years and I've gone through millions of timelines, yet...in all of them, you've die-"

 

"Jeongyeon!" Nayeon quickly snaps. "We can't spoil the future!" 

 

"O-oh...sorry." Jeongyeon gulps. "I...uh...I'll be in our room. I need to just figure this whole thing out." 

 

Jeongyeon walks out of the room, holding her head and muttering words to herself. 

 

"Don't mind her," Nayeon says as she watches Jeongyeon make her way out. "She just thinks it's up to her to solve this all. She's really a softy on the inside when there isn't anything that could bother her." Nayeon laughs. "I need to watch what I say when we're cuddling because if she gets confused by it at all, she just will leave me and stick to her notebooks for the rest of the night." Nayeon sighs and her face turns to an upset expression. "She concerns me sometimes, honestly. Sometimes she's just writing things frantically in her notebook and doesn't even speak to me for days."

 

"And Nayeon is Jeongyeon's entire world," Tzuyu explains. "When she doesn't speak to Nayeon, we know there was a shift or she's traveled back." 

 

"Usually she tells me," Nayeon continues, "but recently it's been shifting so much, so she's just given up. She writes everything in her notebooks and only a month or so ago, she only wrote in it once or twice a month, but recently...it's been...fifteen maybe sixteen times a week. Sometimes even that many per day." 

 

"She's been a lot less herself lately," Momo adds. "We know somethings coming." 

 

"And soon," Sana adds. 

 

"Very very soon," Dahyun says. "Jeongyeon travels a lot when something goes wrong. Well, it's her job. We know something went wrong in our plan every time." 

 

"When Jeongyeon suggests something," Jihyo responds, "it is  _not_ ignored. She knows what were up against. We all live in the ideal timeline, which means this is the perfect timeline that Jeongyeon has chosen to be the safest. We trust her word and when she doesn't tell us we're wrong, we do it." 

 

"Jeongyeon was mad at me when I first met her," Chaeyoung says. "She was saying something about me causing this all. You also all mentioned something about Nayeon's death as well-" 

 

"We don't talk about Jeongyeon's predictions," Mina quickly responds, only to get nervous looks from their friends. "We...uh...don't always believe the predictions, just what she tells us to do." 

 

"Especially when she mentions something about me," Nayeon adds. "She's really really overprotective and loves me a lot, so she's delicate when it comes to me getting hurt. Me dying to her is like...a broken bone." 

 

"She's like me," Mina admits. Her face turns red before she attempts to correct her statement. "W-well, I mean, not like me. I just get nervous easily. I don't overreact." 

 

"Finally," Jihyo laughs. "She finally admitted she get's nervous easily." 

 

Mina groans. "I'm just saying...I know where she's coming from." 

 

"We all do," Sana responds, wrapping her arm around Tzuyu and smiling. "When Tzuyu broke her arms, I didn't know what to do with myself until they were healed. Heck, I'm still nervous about them. I don't want my Tzuyu to get hurt and not be the same." 

 

"Same with Dahyun," Momo says. "She trains a lot, so I need to make sure she takes care of herself as well." 

 

Jihyo nods. "We've all got a big weight on our shoulders." She laughs and smiles. "I mean, we're nine girls who are attempting to save the world. How big of a weight could you get?" 

 

Everyone laughs. 

 

"Jeongyeon just carries like seventy percent of it herself," Nayeon grumbles. "She doesn't listen to me when I tell her that all of us together would make it so much easier, but she refuses and says that she knows the most." 

 

"She's just stubborn," Momo laughs. "We all know that she refuses to give herself breaks." 

 

"She deserves them," Mina adds. She turns to Chaeyoung. "So we make sure to make them as best as possible when she gives in to them." 

 

Chaeyoung smiles. "You guys really care for each other," she says. 

 

Jihyo wraps her arms around the closest girls to her; Dahyun and Mina. "We're practically family, so heck yeah we care for each other. I've known these girls since I was like...twelve. We escaped together and we're fighting together and it was a collective idea that it's worth the risk." 

 

"And it was a big risk bringing both my brother and I," Mina adds, "but we took it anyway." 

 

"It sort of worked," Sana says. 

 

"I'm pretty sure he's not dead because if I concentrate really really hard, I can still find his body and check on him," Mina responds. 

 

"That's good," Jihyo says. "Any clue on how they're treating him?" 

 

"Ummm...last time I checked, which was like...two week ago I was in his head for a couple seconds and I saw...uh...chains. I think he was in a jailcell," Mina answers. "That's all I could make out. He looked like he was thin and beat up, but he was breathing okay and his powers were in check, he just can't use them." 

 

"How come?" Sana asks. 

 

"I think they may have upgraded his gear because of the last time he tried to escape," Mina responds. "I could hear something beeping." 

 

"Oh...it sounds mean, but that's sort of really smart of Emperor to keep his gear up to date like that. He probably knows that your brother can get around the technology easily," Dahyun says. "Your brother was always so smart." 

 

"He is smart," Jihyo sighs. "Gosh. I miss him." 

 

Mina smiles weakly. "We all do, but we need to stay strong. Now that we have Chaeyoung merged with a crystal, we're guaranteed that the other crystals will be good and add to her power more." 

 

Momo raises her eyebrows and then disappears suddenly. A second later, she returns, two other crystal shards in hand. 

 

"These are our other pieces to our half," Momo says, handing them to Chaeyoung. "See if they'll join with the other one on your body." 

 

Chaeyoung nods, along with all of the other girls. They watch with anxious eyes as Chaeyoung places a crystal beside the other one. Unlike the first time, it floats up and connects to Chaeyoung's other wrist. She places the last shard where she placed the last and the same thing happens. 

 

"She has half of it on her body," Sana says with wide eyes. "She's-" 

 

"She-" 

 

"Wow." 

 

"I can't believe it finally worked..." 

 

Sana continues, "Chaeyoung you're like...a god." 

 

Chaeyoung blushes. "I'm not a god." 

 

Sana shakes her head. "Test it." 

 

"My powers?" 

 

"Yeah. See if there is a difference in how they feel." 

 

Chaeyoung nods. 

 

_"You called me?"_

 

Chaeyoung flies back in surprise of the voice, Mina luckily catching her. 

 

"Whoa there, Tiger," Mina giggles. "Don't crack your skull." 

 

Chaeyoung laughs. 

 

_"You're literally disgusting with her!"_

 

Chaeyoung raises an eyebrow. 

 

_And you tried to kill her._

 

_"I apoligize, Miss Son. It's my job."_

 

"He's talking guys," Chaeyoung says. "He sounds a lot friendlier now, though." 

 

_As long as it doesn't happen again, we're okay._

 

_"I promise, Miss Son. You own me now, so if I upset you, I can't give you consequences. I abide by the rules of our deal and that is that I'll only control when you're doing wrong. I understand the situation you're in and I will be considerate of certain things being your job is a bit...more intense than others."_

 

"What's he saying?" Jihyo asks with curious eyes. 

 

"He's talking about our deal," Chaeyoung responds. 

 

_Thank you...uh...what's your name?_

 

_"You may call me Adrastos. My brothers and I combined have decided on this name."_

 

_Ok, Adrastos. I'm going to call you...uh...Adrian. It's easier than your super mythological name._

 

_"Alright, Miss Son."_

 

_You can call me Chaeyoung, Adrian._

 

_"Alright."_

 

"What deal?" Dahyun asks. 

 

"We made a deal when he said he wanted to know how he could trust me," Chaeyoung answers. "I said he can stop me when I do anything that would be wrong while using my powers." 

 

"That's a dumb deal," Momo says. "How can he control you?" 

 

Chaeyoung raises her eyebrows. "Momo, he's in my head now. He...like...controls my powers and stuff." 

 

"O-oh..." Momo's face turns red with embarrassment. "Sorry, Mister Demon." 

 

"No offense taken," Adrian responds as Chaeyoung. Her eyes widen with surprise as she slams her hand on her mouth. "J-jesus, Adrian just talked...f-from me." She breathes deeply. "That surprised me, you doof." 

 

_"Doof?"_

 

_Doofus. It's like if I called you an idiot._

 

_"Interesting."_

 

"That is really creepy," Tzuyu says, shuddering. "It was your voice, but like...smart." 

 

"Thank you Miss Chou. I've been alive for quite awhile, so I've gotten good at the English language," Adrian responds. Chaeyoung sighs, rubbing her forehead. "I'm going to need to get used to sharing a body with a mythological demon dude." 

 

_"Chaeyoung, I feel as though you're attempting to...offend me?"_

 

_Perhaps, but I don't mean harm. It's just my personality._

 

_"Oh alright."_

 

"So...uh...Chaeyoung," Mina says in a quiet voice. "Can he see everything...or...?" 

 

"No, Miss Myoui. I only come out when Chaeyoung calls me. You may continue with your...desires and such," Adrian responds, making Chaeyoung's voice sound more disgusted than any of the girls have ever heard. 

 

Mina's face turns red and the rest of the girls giggle. 

 

"What I meant by that is exactly how it sounded," Adrian continues. "I don't plan to see you two naked." Chaeyoung laughs nervously, and attempts to hide her blushing face. 

 

"Well, uh...Mister Demon-" 

 

"Adrian," he quickly corrects. 

 

"A-adrian, I...I don't see a reason why you would assume we'd...you know...do such a thing," Mina continues, tripping over her words as she speaks. 

 

"Ah," Adrian says, laughing, "but I see these visions in Miss Son's head and they are quite-" 

 

"O-oh! You m-mean when I h-helped her change! Yes that would be why you saw her naked-" 

 

Adrian shakes his head, using Chaeyoung's power's to shut her up. "I am not seeing just removing and putting on the clothes, Miss Myoui. Out of respect for our newly formed friendship, the least you could do would be to tell the truth." 

 

Chaeyoung smiles weakly. Mina chokes on her spit.

 

_"ADRIAN PLEASE STOP SPEAKING OUT THIS RIGHT NOW!" Mina's voice rings through Chaeyoung's head._

 

_"Ah, Miss Myoui, I've gotten you. Shall I correct the situation?" Adrian responds, his deep voice different than the one he had while using Chaeyoung's body to communicate._

 

_"Please."_

 

_And can I have my body back? It's weird being stuck in my mind._

 

"My apoligies, Minari. I was only attempting to create a humorous situation with my friends." Adrian smiles. "Shall I just let you all be?" 

 

"If you don't mind, yes," Tzuyu squeaks. "It's creepy hearing another voice coming from Chaeyoung's tiny body." 

 

"I'M NOT TINY!" Chaeyoung shouts. "I'M JUST SLIGHTLY SMALLER THAN YOU GIANTS!" 

 

Mina smiles. "She's back!" 

 

"It's so...weird...sharing a body with someone," Chaeyoung says, blinking rapidy. "I was stuck in my head and I couldn't even move!" 

 

Momo laughs. "Could you really not do anything?" 

 

Chaeyoung shakes her head. "Nothing. I couldn't even talk! All I could do was suggest things in my thoughts." 

 

"I guess we're going to figure out a compromise between you too," Jihyo laughs. "I'm sure he's just trying to warm up to us." 

 

"Yeah. I'm not mad just..." Chaeyoung's voice trails off. "I guess...shocked?"

 

"I'm assuming that's a normal reaction," Nayeon shrugs. "If I had someone in my head, I'd be freaking out." 

 

"How'd it feel?" Sana asks, her eyes dancing with curiosity. "Like I know you said weird, but like...did it hurt?" 

 

"Well-" 

 

"Guys?" a small voice croaks from the doorway. Everyone turns to face the voice. They all see Jeongyeon standing there, her clothes soaked in blood and eyes puffy and red. "I can't fix the timeline." 

 

Nayeon get's up quickly, looking at her girlfriend with worried eyes. "You...what?" 

 

"I..." Jeongyeon sniffles and wipes the tears streaming down her face. "I thought it would work, but...I tried everything but I..." Jeongyeon cries again when her eyes land on Nayeon, "...I can't fix the timeline." 


	13. Living And Loving

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Someone is back and better than ever.
> 
>  
> 
> And they want r e v e n g e .

**Sunday, November 25**

 

 

Chaeyoung smiles, waking up to the warm embrace of her cuddly girlfriend. She snuggles in closer to Mina happily, loving ever single second of laying in bed with her. She can't keep herself from placing a soft kiss on Mina's forehead. 

 

Mina smiles as her eyes flutter open to look at Chaeyoung. 

 

"Goodmorning, cutie," Mina whispers. She kisses Chaeyoung softly. "Did you sleep well?" 

 

Chaeyoung nods lazily. "I slept great. Our bed is so comfortable," Chaeyoung giggles, "and you're a cuddly mess." 

 

Mina laughs quietly. "I like snuggles," she pouts. 

 

Chaeyoung places another kiss on Mina's forehead. "I do too. With you, at least." 

 

Mina sighs and wraps her arms tighter around Chaeyoung, leaving no space between the two. They both ignore the sounds of the TV blaring in one of the rooms next to them, most likely Dahyun and Momo catching up on one of their childish shows, and the muffled voices of a couple of their friends in a nearby hallway. 

 

"Hey, Chaengie, I have a random question," Mina says, running one of her hand's through Chaeyoung's hair and smiling.

 

"Go ahead." 

 

"I want to see my brother," Mina continues. "It's random, but I had the weirdest dream before I woke up and I have an urge to check on him. Would you want to maybe...see him too?" 

 

Chaeyoung is visibly in shock by the question, her eyes widened and her mouth agape. "S-see him? Are you sure? Isn't he like...chained up and beat and stuff?" 

 

Mina shakes her head lightly and sighs. "I think he knows I've been checking on him, so he's been complying and he hasn't been beat in a while. At this point, it's just a lot of scars and him stuck behind a big locked door." 

 

"I...I guess?" Chaeyoung responds, her voice cracking.

 

Mina laughs quietly and the butterflies in Chaeyoung's stomach go mad. "I know it's random," Mina says, shaking her head. "It's just...I just got a vision that it'll be worth our time." 

 

"You mean a dream," Chaeyoung corrects.

 

Mina shakes her head again. "A vision. I get them sometimes." She sighs. "Rarely, but still sometimes." 

 

Chaeyoung hums to herself and runs her hands playfully down Mina's back, making her shiver. "So you got a vision that we will...what? Talk to him? Get information? Free him?" 

 

Mina sighs and her brows furrow afterwards. "I feel like it'll be something like that." 

 

"So what did you see then?" 

 

"I saw...I  _heard_ him talking to me. He was talking about freedom or something along the lines of that. It was a bright light after that...and then you woke me up." 

 

Chaeyoung thinks for a moment. She connect eyes with Mina and smiles. "If you have a good feeling about it...I mean. I guess sure. Adrian says sure too." 

 

Mina laughs. "You can hear him?" 

 

"I can feel him." 

 

"Weird." 

 

Chaeyoung nods. "Very, but I think I can get used to it. He doesn't bother me and he's also making me more powerful, so he's basically just helping us while I do nothing for him." 

 

"You're giving his crystal a place to stay," Mina suggests. "I think that's what he wants. Maybe it'll decrease his chances of getting killed or something." 

 

"Maybe." 

 

"Yep." Mina releases Chaeyoung. Both girls are immediately upset by the loss of contact. Mina continues, "Well...uh...I'm gonna do it." 

 

"Quick question, can we talk to him?" 

 

"Yes." 

 

"So is it going to be like how I felt with Adrian where I'm in the body, but I can't control it?" 

 

"Basically." 

 

"Ok." Chaeyoung nods. "Ok go ahead." 

 

* * *

 

Ellis sighs again, sulking at the wall opposite of his bed. Well, more of a flat rock than a bed, but still, a bed is where a person is to sleep, so it's technically a bed by dictionary terms. 

 

He feels a slight breeze coming from a crack in the door. He winces, remembering what he had to do just to put that small little dent in the door. It took six hours of constant concentration to even be able to even minutely access his telekinetic abilities. The second it had worked, his father and a dozen and a half men came bursting through the door and beat him senseless until he passed out due to blood loss. 

 

Though, with the pain of the beating came new light in his situation. Even with the gear his father has on him, he still has his super hearing. It isn't as powerful as it used to be, but he can still hear conversations going on in the hallways beside him. He's learned of new people captured, created, and possible allies that could help him when his time for freedom comes. 

 

"So this kid is the big dudes son?" he hears someone saying. 

 

"So you're the new guy, eh?" 

 

"Yep." He laughs. "I was trained in the army and this big buff guy says to me, 'Eh, you wanna rule da' world?' and I goes, 'Fuck yeah, man. When do I start?' and then I ended up with this job as a security officer in whatever this place is." 

 

"A vault for the supers." 

 

"Oh those," he grumbles. "I hate those dudes. Makin' chaos and shit. My Ma' got a broken leg from the recent attacks." 

 

"She okay now?" 

 

"Yeah she's fine-" 

 

_"Ellis?" Mina says._

 

Ellis jumps, surprised by the way-too-similar voice in his head. 

 

"Who's there?" Ellis squeaks, his voice still hoarse from his recent outburst of tears. "H-how'd you get in here?" 

 

_"It's me. Mina," she continues._

 

"W-what? Dad, you can't just be using this against me! I've been good-" 

 

_"And friend," Chaeyoung adds. "I'm Chaeyoung."_

 

_"Trust me, El, I couldn't ever make up a name as nice as her's."_

 

"M-" 

 

_"Don't say my name out loud!" Mina quickly snaps. "Dad has people watching over us."_

 

"Sorry."

 

_"It's fine." Mina sighs. "How have you been?"_

 

"Two years without my best friend and being constantly beaten? Oh it's great. How are you?" Ellis pauses for a moment, his eyes tearing up. "How's Jihyo?

 

_"She misses you. We all do. But besides that, not bad. I've got news."_

 

"Better be good." 

 

_"It is. I've never been able to do more than watch you and I had this weird vision last night that I'd be able to today, so I decided to try and here I am! That's not the good news, though. The news is that I might be able to help you get out!"_

 

"You do realize there's refined walls all around me, right? I don't even have my powers, so how am I supposed to get out?" 

 

_"The name's Adrian," Adrian quickly responds. "I'm a...new edition to the team and I'm here to assist you with escaping this horrid place."_

 

"Adrian?" Ellis laughs. "Have you gotten yourself a boyfriend?"

 

_"I'm way older than she is," Adrian quickly responds. "I'm a demon...or...an angel. Whatever you would like to consider me. I'm an all powerful being, so perhaps...a god is a more suiting word? Anyways, I've allied with the NewPorts and have joined Chaeyoung and Mina to remove the machinery around you."_

 

"Trust me, sir, it won't work. I've been trying to get this off for y-" 

 

The cuffs around Adrian's neck falls, along with everything else restraining him from his abilities. He feels refreshed and more alive than he has since he got captured. He feels the cuts around his body slowly healing and returning back to normal skin, along with his tired body becoming strong and young again.

 

He laughs loudly into the air, staring deeply at the door beside him before running at it and punching it through the wall to the next room and beyond. He smiles, using his teleportation and invisibility to gracefully escape the hallway he was in and out of the capturing facility. He concentrates hard enough to teleport himself to a metal beam nearly a hundred feet above the air and smiles.

 

_"Told you we'd help," Mina says. "How does it feel, Elli?"_

 

"Absolutely amazing," he replies. "Have I told you that you're my favorite sibling?" 

 

_"And also your only," Mina snaps. "But thanks."_

 

"How'd you do it?" 

 

_"I think it may of been Chaeyoung....?" Mina replies._

 

_"I didn't do anything?" Chaeyoung answers. "Adrian?"_

 

_"I, the more powerful of you all, decided to take initiative while you spoke and made my way from Chaeyoung's mind into Ellis and from Ellis into the machines, where I disabled them without a trace. According to the scanners, he's still in there safe and sound. Though...if would have be preferable for you to go out a more...quiet way then smashing the walls down, Mr Myoui," Adrian quickly replies. "Living for millions of years surely assists you with learning your way around issues."_

 

"Well, Adrian, I give you permission to marry my sister," Ellis says. "Mina, how'd you get a smart guy like him to fall for you?" 

 

_"We aren't dating, young master," Adrian snaps. "Haven't I said that before?"_

 

"I don't think I processed it. Sorry, man." 

 

_"Tis' okay. I'll be returning to Chaeyoung's mind now. Toodles!"_

 

Ellis scratches the back of his head confused. "Returning to Chaeyoung's mind?" 

 

_"Long story," Chaeyoung quickly replies. "I'm sure Mina will explain it to you when you find your way home."_

 

"Home." Ellis's smile grows wider. "Where's home?" 

 

_"With us of course," Mina replies. "All of us have made home out of our Cafe. We've gotten really good rating recently, so we decided to keep it open."_

 

"Oh I miss that so much. Is a waiter job still open?" 

 

_Mina laughs. "Of course it is. Though, for now we've closed it because we need to be more alert. Chaeyoung is our newest member and also...the reason you're free and I'm alive and happy. She's who dad has been looking for, so it's sort of scary to think she could get hurt under our watch, so we've decided to shut everything down that could distract us."_

 

"Damn. You care about her more than you did me." 

 

_Mina laughs again. "No. I just trusted you'd be better with your powers. She's still in training."_

 

"Oh. Is she like...ten? Why would you-" 

 

_"I'm eighteen," Chaeyoung snaps. "Just because I'm short-"_

 

_"Chaengie, he can't see you-"_

 

_"So? I might have a childish voice-"_

 

_"Chaeyoung-"_

 

_"I don't ignore disrespectful comments about my appearance!"_

 

_"You're perfect, Chaeyoung, please-"_

 

_"TAKE THE STATEMENT BACK, ELLIS!"_

 

"So she's a...feisty ten year old?" 

 

_Chaeyoung growls. "I'm not ten-"_

 

_"Oh gosh...please Ellis, don't keep messing with her-"_

 

_"TAKE IT BACKKKKKKK!"_

 

Ellis laughs, running his hand through his long hair. "I'm sorry, Chaeyoung." 

 

_"Apology accepted," Chaeyoung huffs._

 

_"Now, children, do you mind not fighting for a bit?" Mina asks, clearly annoyed._

 

"Sorry...I've just missed being myself. I haven't had a decent conversation with anyone but myself in like two years." 

 

_"Understandable," Chaeyoung responds. "Sorry."_

 

"No you seem cute," Ellis laughs, now blushing. "I only allow cute people to ye-" 

 

_"Now this is unacceptable!" Mina shouts._

 

"C'mon, Mina! Let me have a little bit of fun-" 

 

_"Not her. Anyone but her. First dad is trying to take her and now you. No."_

 

"I-I...sorry? Why are you so-" 

 

_"Let me have one good thing, Ellis, okay?"_

 

"Mina...what are you-" 

 

_"Let me have ONE good thing in this life. Please."_

 

"I'm not working with dad if that's what you think." 

 

_"It's not. Just...don't."_

 

"Don't what? Flirt?"

 

_"You can flirt. Just not with her."_

 

"I'm not trying to date her, Mina. I'm just having fun. Besides, you know that I like Jihyo." He giggles quietly to himself, thinking about how pretty she was when he saw her last and how much he wished he had made a move on her before he was caught. "May I ask why you are so...defensive about her?"

 

_Mina takes a deep breath in and out, trying to calm herself down. "She...she's important to me. In a more than friend way. In a she's my girlfriend sort of way. So...don't flirt with her because she's the one person I've loved enough to be able to have the guts to take my own life for."_

 

_"Mina-"_

 

_"Chaeyoung is my everything. She's my light to my darkness and this morning just waking up in her arms was enough to keep me going for the rest of my life. She's who I want to grow old with and save the world with, so yeah. I didn't like that you flirted with her."_

 

Ellis is silent. He just stares off into the distance, lost in confused thoughts and guilt. 

 

_"Don't be angry at yourself, Ellis," Mina quickly adds. "I know you meant no harm."_

 

"No...I'm not angry. Just..." His voice is lost again, his thoughts taking over. "...I was nervous you'd be a wreck over this whole situation." He smiles. "I'm happy you found someone who makes everything better." 

 

_"Maybe you should find your's?" Mina suggests. "Jihyo doesn't know that I'm here right now, so it'll be a nice surprise."_

 

Ellis's face grows softer and he imagines being able to see his friends again. His thoughts then find it's way to Jihyo. (Holding her tightly. Finally getting the courage to kiss her.) 

 

He runs his hand over the scar on his left cheek and then smiles. 

 

"Where are you guys?" he asks. 

 

_"Cafe basement," Mina responds. "I'll see you soon."_

 

Ellis nods, knowing Mina sees it. He looks around the giant room he's in, gripping the beam he's on a bit tighter as he makes his way towards a small opening in the ceiling. He stands up, using his powers to balance himself as he jumps out, the metal ceiling making a loud sound as his naked feet hits it. He winces for a second, realizing how hot it is, but continue to walk on the ceiling until he reaches the edge. He smiles and then jumps. 

 

The wind around him is comforting. He enjoys the rush of Adrenalin as he nears the ground. He knows he won't get hurt. It's impossible with his powers back in check. He uses his powers to touch gently to the floor before jumping even higher to reach the top of a high building nearby. He looks around at New York, loving his view and realizing how much he missed the smell of the air and the natural breeze on his face. 

 

He nears the edge of the building and looks around, searching for the street that has the home he will be able to claim his own. He smiles, realizing how close he is. He hops from building top to building top, his smile growing wider each second Jihyo finds her way to his thoughts. 

 

He counts the streets again and realizes he's on the very street he needs to be on. He hops off the building, conscious of any nearby people and stands in front of the Cafe door. He gulps, a sudden nervousness taking over as his hand runs over the long metal nob of the door. He pulls it.

 

It's unlocked. Mina's work, he assumes. He makes his way into the Cafe, closing and locking the door behind him. He walks through the dining area, his feet clapping against the cold floor. 

 

He runs his hands over the sign placed on the Barista stand. 

 

_Where Mina used to work._

 

'Home is where the heart is' he reads, looking down at the sign. It was definitely the work of Nayeon. 

 

He walks further through the restaurant and through the kitchen doors. He sees the familiar locked up secret room in the back and smiles to himself, making his way there quietly. He assumes there needs to be some sort of a security systems from a million years in the future, so he's cautious as he approaches. 

 

He runs his hand over the button and latches on the door, looking for the correct one. Without touching anything, it sighs and unlocks. 

 

_Perhaps...facial recognition?_

 

He pushes it, trying his best not to cough as he is exposed to the odd air coming out of the door. 

 

Ellis can almost hear Jihyo yelling at the girls telling them that the air might kill them. He laughs quietly as he makes his way down the stairs and into what he assumes to be a hallway. He looks around before making his way down the hallway. 

 

He sees Dahyun and Momo talking to each other, smiling and laughing at almost everything each other says. He sneaks past them to see Nayeon and Jeongyeon bickering. Jeongyeon shakes her head and allows Nayeon to hold her closer. He smiles. He makes his way further down the hallway to a closed bedroom door. Something in the back of his head is telling him that this is where he'll find Jihyo. 

 

He knocks on the door quietly, making himself visible again.

 

"Come in!" Jihyo says. He opens the door to see Jihyo faced the other way, reading something on her desk. "Don't mind the clutter." 

 

Ellis gulps before responding. "I find everything perfect about you, Jihyo, so I don't mind." 

 

Jihyo freezes. Her grip on the page she was holding dissolves and the book closes. She turns around, tears in her eyes and the brightest smile Ellis have ever seen on her beautiful face. 

 

"E-ellis?" she croaks. She gets up immediately and runs to his embraces, holding him tightly and sobbing quietly into his chest. 

 

Ellis smiles, holding her tighter. Jihyo pulls away for a second, looking up at him. She's always found how much taller than he is than her to be the funniest thing. Ellis leans down, their lips connecting. Jihyo's breath hitches from the contact and kisses him back, standing on her toes to deepen it. 

 

"Oh my god, Ellis," Jihyo croaks again. "I've missed you so much and I thought you were dead, but I'd never-" 

 

Ellis places his finger gently on Jihyo's lips, causing her to go silent. "It was all Mina," he admits. "Trust me I would've came back to you so much sooner if I could, but without Mina, Chaeyoung, and Adrian, I wouldn't be here now." 

 

"But how?" 

 

"I have my powers back. All of them." He smiles and forms a flower in his hand. He holds it out to Jihyo. She takes it, a rolling down her cheeks. "Adrian freed me."

 

Jihyo hugs him again, tighter this time, burying her face in his chest. 

 

"Jihyo...the last time I saw you, I was a weak and scared little boy, but it's been a long time and I'm not the same little boy I was then." Ellis gulps. "So I'm just going to be straightforward and say that I'm completely in love with you. There hasn't been a moment even a second when you haven't crossed my mind and I yearned to kiss you. To finally get the courage to know that I've finally won you over. I..." Ellis laughs nervously. "I just couldn't bare to spend another second hoping that you're okay and that my dad didn't get you too. He never told me anything, so it just made me a mess. I'm not even sure if you still feel how you did then, but I know I still do." 

 

Jihyo nods. "I do, Ellis. I do. I love you." 

 

"You do?" Ellis smiles even wider. 

 

"I do. So much." Jihyo wipes the tears pouring down her face. "I didn't let myself meet anyone outside of our friends for the sole reason that I believed that you would come back and we'd finally get our happy ending." 

 

"Oh thank you, Jihyo." Ellis struggles to hold back tears, trying his best to stay strong for the love of his life. "I always knew we were destined to be together and that everything would turn out okay." 

 

"I always thought that to." Jihyo laughs. "I never told the girls though. They may have all ran to where you were and gotten themselves all killed. Speaking of which, how did you get in without them catching you?" 

 

"I thought you would recall my invisibility, Jihyo. I've had it. I snuck right past Dahyun, Momo and even Nayeon and Jeongyeon." 

 

"But how'd you know where to find us?" 

 

"Mina and Chaeyoung. They found their way into my mind and freed me from there." 

 

"But Mina has been trying for years, why did it work this time?" 

 

"Does someone that goes by the name 'Adrian' ring a bell?" 

 

Jihyo nods. "So Adrian and Chaeyoung saved you." Jihyo laughs. "Those rascals. Who'd think Mina would end up running into a super on the street who would piece everything back together again. We've figured out the purpose of the crystals, which was something even Jeongyeon and your minds combined couldn't figure out." Jihyo laughs again. "And she's a time traveler!" 

 

"And Chaeyoung has won over my sister's heart?" 

 

Jihyo nods, but then starts laughing again. "They're head over heals for each other. Chaeyoung is, in a sense, Mina's cure to sadness, so she treats Chaeyoung like a god. Though, I wish she would show Chaeyoung her more vulnerable side. She's been putting on a strong face for too long now." 

 

"Was this because of me getting caught?" Ellis asked, a hint of guilt in his voice. 

 

"She blamed it on herself because she didn't tell us about your father or any of that until recently. She thought that we could've been able to do something if we knew her little secret." 

 

"But is she okay now?" 

 

"She was constantly a mess until Chaeyoung showed up. She cried herself to sleep almost every night and when she got to work the day after meeting Chaeyoung, she was the Mina that I met years ago in our cells. Chaeyoung is truthfully her entire world." 

 

"That's good to know." 

 

Jihyo smiles. "If you do anything that could hurt Chaeyoung's feelings, I would bet every penny I have that she'll jump down your throat immediately." 

 

"Oh I know. I was being a little flirty with Chaeyoung just to mess with her, and Mina started going off at me. It was scary." Ellis shudders. "I thought she was going to kill me." 

 

Jihyo nods. "She's gotten intense, but she's still the same innocent Mina from the last time you saw her." 

 

"Do you mind if I go see her? I know we have a lot to discuss about our relationship and all, but I really miss-" 

 

"You can go, Ellis." Jihyo smiles. "And I'm fine with us taking it slow again." 

 

Ellis shakes his head. "I've waited years for you, Jihyo. I want to become official. Like you're my girlfriend official." 

 

"R-really?" 

 

"Really."

 

"Yeah. Yeah that's perfect." Jihyo nods frantically. 

 

"Cool," Ellis replies. "I'll see you around. I've got to say hi to everyone." 

 

Jihyo gives Ellis a small wave and squeaks "I love you" as he makes his way out of the door. 

 

He hears Momo and Dahyun giggling and decides that they'll be his first targets. He goes invisible and uses his flight to float above off the ground, making him completely gone to them and their eyes. 

 

"Momoring! You're going to kill the girls if you add that much salt into the chicken!" Dahyun mumbles. "One teaspoon!" 

 

Momo pouts. "But I love salty things-" 

 

"Yes, but Mina doesn't and neither do I! Don't you care about me?" 

 

"I care about you, Dubu, don't worry," Ellis replies. 

 

Both girls freeze and turn around with horrified expressions, both seemingly readying their powers. Momo bites her lip and look over at Dahyun nervously. When she realizes Dahyun isn't paying attention, she quickly turns off the stove. Ellis has to keep himself from laughing. Momo still prioritizes her food over herself. 

 

"Who's there?" Dahyun asks. "How'd you get it." 

 

Ellis puts himself back onto the ground, the floorboards creaking underneath him. "A know a guy." 

 

"Do you work for Emperor?" Dahyun asks, her voice angry and serious. 

 

"I work for the NewPorts," he answers, making himself become visible to them, "specifically the group lead by Jihyo." 

 

Both girl's visibly calm down and run to Ellis, hugging him tightly. 

 

"Ellis!" Momo screams. "You're okay!" 

 

He smiles, hugging both girls back. "I am." 

 

"We missed you!" Dahyun says. "Are you okay? Do you need medical attention or-" 

 

Ellis stops Dahyun from looking at the scars on his body. "I'm fine, Dahyun. Really. I promise if anything bothers me, I'll tell you immediately." 

 

"What's this- OH MY GOD ELLISON IS BACK!" Sana screams, alerting the rest of the group to pile into the living room, each hugging him and saying their hellos. 

 

Ellis specifically notices Mina and the new face to walk in last, Chaeyoung holding Mina tightly and saying something to her. 

 

"He's back, Mina," Chaeyoung says. Ellis hears it through his powers. "You need to let out your emotions." She smiles. "Awkward Mina isn't the best person to be around." 

 

Mina pouts. "I'm not awkward, I'm just nervous." 

 

"About meeting your brother again? He hasn't changed Mina, you said that yourself." 

 

"Yeah. He's still the fluffy boy Ellis, minus his old hair. I'm sure he'll cut that soon-" 

 

"MINA!" Ellis shouts, breaking through the rest of the girls to hug his sister. "Oh my god how much I've missed you!" He turns to Chaeyoung and holds out his hand, which she shakes. "And you must be the owner of my sister's heart?" 

 

Chaeyoung smiles proudly. "That's a cool way of putting it." 

 

"Thank you for taking care of her while I was gone," Ellis responds. "It means the world to me." 

 

Chaeyoung shrugs. "I've only be here for a week or so, Ellis, so you can't give me all the credit." 

 

"Well, my sources say she was a mess until you showed up, so I'm going to give it to you," Ellis laughs. "Really. Thank you." 

 

Chaeyoung nods. "You're welcome." Her warm smiles makes Ellis even more happy. "It was an honor falling for her." 

 

"You were head over heels the second you met me, Chaeyoung," Mina says. 

 

"Mina, you asked me to go on a weekend trip with you the first time we met, if that's not whipped-" 

 

"No! I was asking if you'd want to go to the boardwalk you were like... 'Sure lets go for the weekend' and-" 

 

"You suggested the weekend!" 

 

"I  _suggested_ it!" 

 

"They're both so whipped!" Sana screams, shutting up both of the girls. "Just admit it, you two! You're girlfriends!" 

 

Chaeyoung's mouth opens wide and Mina smiles proudly.

 

"I'll admit that I'm extremely and madly in love with Chaeyoung," Mina says quickly. 

 

Chaeyoung turns to face her, clearly annoyed. "You were whipped first! She admits it!" 

 

"Isn't that a bad thing?" Momo asks. "Doesn't that mean she fell for you first?" 

 

Chaeyoung shakes her head. "I thought she was cute. I'm pretty sure she was planning what her wedding dress was going to look like right after we parted." 

 

"HOW DID YOU KNOW THAT?" Mina asks. "SANA WAS IT-" 

 

"I didn't tell her!" Sana exclaims. "I swear!" 

 

"So who did?" 

 

"No one!" Chaeyoung responds quickly. She smiles. "Now that I think about, Mina when are we going to go down to the beach? Weren't we supposed to check in...like on Friday?" 

 

"Oh...we were," Mina groans. "Ellis, I'm so sorry, but I've got to call them. What should I say?" 

 

"We couldn't make it down...because...there was a sudden death in the family?" Chaeyoung responds. 

 

"Ok," Mina nods. She takes the phone out of her pocket and walks out of the room. She stops. "Would you want to just change the date?" 

 

"OMG BOOK IT FOR TOMORROW AND STAY THERE FOR A COUPLE DAYS!" Dahyun suggests. 

 

"That's the cutest idea ever!" Tzuyu chimes in. "You should do it!" 

 

Chaeyoung smiles and shrugs. "I'm okay with that. As long as they have a room for us for that long." 

 

"I'm sure they will," Mina responds. "Okay I'll go ask. No one go anywhere." 

 

Momo moves from the spot she was standing in and smiles confidently. "I went somewhere," she says, a smug look on her face. 

 

"Momo, rebellious as always," Ellis giggles. "You're all just as I recalled you. Gosh I missed you so much!" 

 

"We missed you too!" Jeongyeon responds.

 

"The Cafe wasn't the same without your cheery attitude!" Nayeon adds. "And neither was the house. Until Chaeyoung showed up, everyone was all dreary and depressed and stuff." 

 

"Especially Mina," Dahyun adds. 

 

"Definitely." Sana nods. She turns to Chaeyoung. "Momo and I were struggling to keep a brave face for the girls, so when Mina came home all happy and smiling, we felt like our old selves again and got a lot better. You saved us mentally and literally, Chaeyoung." 

 

Chaeyoung blushes. "Did I really? Thank god I decided to use some random app on my phone for coffee then," she responds, laughing. 

 

"You healed us all," Tzuyu laughs. "We're thankful that you found your way into our life." 

 

"Me the most," Ellis chimes in. "Without you and your...mind demon Adrian-" 

 

"I'd call myself a guardian angel," Adrian corrects through Chaeyoung. Chaeyoung smiles sheepishly. "He talks through me." 

 

"O-oh...ok...well without you two, I'd still be stuck in my cell," Ellis continues. He smiles and pulls Chaeyoung into a hug. "Thank you for taking care and Mina and me." 

 

Mina walks back into the room.

 

Chaeyoung smiles back, completely unaware of Mina's presence before she begins. "I'm happy to do anything that'll make Mina happy, Ellis, so honestly you don't need to thank me for doing my job as her girlfriend. Mina is the love of my life and the first person I've felt the need to protect. My birth family was nice, but just Mina is enough to help me not miss them anymore. She's the most wonderful person I've ever met and she's changed my life so much. In the time I've known her, I discovered my purpose in life, which was the knowledge I've lacked all my life. I was blinded my entire life and it's always hurt me to know that it could be taken away again, which is what made me want the blindness back." Chaeyoung shakes her head, fighting back tears. "But seeing Mina and her beauty just took every one of my problems away." Chaeyoung smiles. "Just her laugh alone is enough to make me feel like I have a purpose in this world. After searching and searching..." Chaeyoung lets a tear run down her cheek. "...your sister is who I want to protect with my life." Chaeyoung wipes it and laughs nervously. There's silence between the girls, so she continues. "Sorry for...the whole speak...oh gosh I'm embarrassed now. I didn't mean to-" 

 

"No really it's fine," Ellis interupts, looking back at Mina's who is tearing up by Chaeyoung's words. 

 

"She helped me find myself and who I want to be in the future." Chaeyoung giggles. "Which is definitely going to be her wife." 

 

Mina wraps her arms around Chaeyoung and holds her tightly to herself, the tears in her eyes wetting the back of Chaeyoung's bed shirt. "I love you so much," Mina croaks. "I just...hearing your words...it..." Mina turns Chaeyoung around to face her. "...it makes me so happy. Being with you gives me a purpose too. Your smile gives me something to look up to...and knowing you feel the same way..." Mina kisses Chaeyoung deeply. "...knowing you're the reason everything is coming back together again...I...I just..." Mina's weight gives up and she falls onto Chaeyoung's holding her tightly and sobbing quietly into the crook of her neck. "I...love...you...so...m-much." 

 

Chaeyoung holds her tighter, ignoring the girls around her and the annoying hum of their poor air conditioner running a couple feet away. She just listens to her girlfriend's heartbeat against her own and the silent breaths of air as Mina struggles to stop crying.

 

The radiator burps loudly, stopping and leaving the group silent, watching as Chaeyoung silently attempts to calm down Mina. She runs her hand's through Mina's hair, smiling widely as Mina's perfume fills her nose, making her dizzy. She loves how Mina's smells. 

 

"I-I..." Mina whispers, her voice quiet and uneven. "I love you so g-goddamn much, Chaeyoung. You need to hear it yourself." 

 

"I know it," Chaeyoung replies. "I know you care." 

 

"I don't just care. I'm willing to do anything to keep you happy," Mina corrects. She laughs, clearly embarrassed by the presence of her friends. "And I guess you'll be disappointed to know that they didn't have an open dates for the boardwalk trip we planned." 

 

Chaeyoung shakes her head, pulling back to see Mina's face. "It's fine. We can just...go out for a bit by ourselves." 

 

Mina nods. "That's still amazing. As long as your there..." she blushes, "...I'm okay with anything." 

 

Dahyun wipes a tear from her cheek, smiling at Chaeyoung and Mina. She faces Momo, a bright smile on her face. Momo notices and wraps her arm around Dahyun and pulling her closer. Sana giggles at the sight of her friends and makes her way to Tzuyu. She plants a kiss on Tzuyu's lips, smiling as she does so and stands beside her. Jeongyeon rolls her eyes as Nayeon, clearly embarrassed, takes Jeongyeon hand and holds it tightly. 

 

"We've learned an important lesson today!" Sana shouts, her face too serious for it to actually be taken seriously. "Chaeyoung and Mina are so freaking whipped for each other!"

 

Everyone giggles and the romantic tension in the room decreases as all the couples let go of each other. 

 

"They  _are_ so  _whippppppeeeeed!"_ Sana shouts again, bouncing up and down. "Gosh. Tzuyu!" 

 

"Yes?" Tzuyu responds. 

 

"Are you whipped for me?" 

 

Tzuyu's face turns red. "Excuse me, Sana?" 

 

"I asked if you're whipped for me." 

 

"I-I...uh...yeah." 

 

Sana's smile grows brighter and she hugs her girlfriend tightly. "Good because I'm whipped for you." 

 

Nayeon turn to Jeongyeon, smiling. "Hey, J-" 

 

"Don't even ask, Nayeon," Jeongyeon snaps. 

 

Nayeon pouts. "Aw....but, Jeongyoungiieeeee!" 

 

Jeongyeon keeps a serious face. "Don't-" 

 

"Jeongyeon, are you whipped for me?" Nayeon shouts, smiling brightly up at her girlfriend.

 

Jeongyeon cracks a small smile as she faces Nayeon. Her face softens when they connect eyes. 

 

"Are you? Are you?" Nayeon continues. 

 

Jeongyeon sighs and kisses Nayeon. "I am." 

 

"Called it!" Mina shouts, sniffling and wiping her nose. 

 

"Are you whipped for Chaeyoung?" Momo quickly asks. "Because like-" 

 

"Yes. One hundred percent," Mina responds immediately. 

 

"And I'm completely in love...er...whipped for Mina," Chaeyoung also responds.

 

Dahyun sighs, wrapping her arms around Momo and giggling. "Ahhh...love is in the air once more! The tension is destroyed and we can all calm down!" 

 

Momo smiles and faces Ellis. "Welcome home to our second savior!" 

 

"Savior?" Ellis says, confused. "How so?" 

 

"We finally don't have a reason to be nervous about making the wrong moves," Nayeon answers. "We were all nervous that you'd be sacrificed if we attacked first, so now we can finally make moves." 

 

"So we win?" Chaeyoung asks. 

 

Everyone smiles in sync. 

 

"Maybe," Mina replies. "We've got quite a lot of good fighters on our side. Speaking of which, ask the twins if they're available because..." Mina nods proudly. "...because I think we should take advantage of what we've got." 

 

"You mean..." Sana's words stop. 

 

"We should attack first," Mina continues. "They aren't expecting it. I mean, we're ready, so it's even greater of an advantage." 

 

All of the girls nods frantically. 

 

"Jihyo!" Dahyun shouts. 

 

Jihyo pops out of her room, looking into the living room. "Yeah?" 

 

"What do you say about an attack against Emperor?" Sana asks. "Mina made the point that we're powerful and they aren't expecting it, so it's worth trying." 

 

Jihyo nods. "Yeah. It makes sense, but when?" 

 

"Give us a few days to train maybe?" Chaeyoung suggests. "Well, at least I think _I_ need a few days."

 

Tzuyu nods. "I think that's smart."

 

"Ok...so...we'll attack in three days then," Jihyo says. "Today we rest and then we're going to train as hard as we can." 

 

Everyone nods, putting there hands together into one big pile. 

 

Jihyo smiles, connecting eyes with Ellis. "Ready?" 

 

"Ready!" everyone shouts at the same time.

 

"Three...two...one..." 

 

"NEWPORTS!" 

 

 


	14. Again and Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Training, laughing, etc, etc. Sometimes the NewPorts are serious.

**Monday, November 26 (3 AM)**

 

Chaeyoung punches the punching bag as hard as she can, channeling as much of her powers to do so. 

 

"WRONG!" Mina screams. "You died!" 

 

Chaeyoung groans. "Please...Mina, have mercy on me!"

 

"YOU DIED!" Mina screams again. "DO IT AGAIN!" 

 

Chaeyoung grunts, putting herself in the defensive position Mina had forced her into learning. "It keeps you steady and helps you with more powerful hits," was what she said.

 

Chaeyoung punches the bag again, this time her fist rebounding and punching her in the face instead. 

 

"YOU KILLED YOURSELF-" 

 

"Mina, it's three in the morning," Chaeyoung snaps. She falls to the floor and buries her face in her hands. "Can we please just go to bed? Jihyo said we'd rest-" 

 

"Yesterday was resting. Today is training." Mina pulls Chaeyoung back onto her feet. "We'll practice because you'll die if you don't." 

 

"I'll die if I'm _exhausted,_ " Chaeyoung quickly shoots back.

 

"You'll die because you can't fight back." Mina corrects sassily. "Show me your punches again. Hit the bag hard. Break it. Show you could punch through a person." 

 

Chaeyoung gets into position again. She concentrates her powers to her arms. She keeps her eye on the bag and then punches. The room fills with white powder and dust. 

 

"Well..." Mina nods proudly. "You broke it." 

 

Chaeyoung falls back onto the ground, coughing. "I did. Now can we go to bed?" 

 

Mina shakes her head and brings another punching bag to Chaeyoung. "Break this one too. Then we can sleep." 

 

Chaeyoung nods and gets up from the floor. 

 

"Remember to do exactly what you just did. That's the ideal punch in battle," Mina explains. "It'll get the most out of your hits." 

 

Chaeyoung nods, getting into positition as Mina speaks. 

 

"And also, you need to try to naturally get into that position. If you take thirty seconds to get into that position during battle, you're screwed," Mina continues. 

 

Chaeyoung gives herself a second to channel her powers and then strikes the bag. Her fist goes through the bag, but the blow isn't nearly as good as the last. 

 

Mina nods. "That's good enough. You've trained a lot today." 

 

"Thank the lords," Chaeyoung groans. "We've been training for twelve hours. You're lucky you got that much out of me, you bully." 

 

"I'm not a bully, just a trainer." Mina and Chaeyoung both make their way out of the training room. "Tomorrow is going to be worse. Jihyo is probably going to make you fight her." 

 

"But I've never seen her powers! That's not fair!"

 

"She's got a lot up her sleeves," Mina responds. "She's learned how to hack her powers and make them into something more. Like you do." 

 

Chaeyoung shrugs, opening the door to their bedroom. "Is she a close up fighter?" 

 

"She's whatever she needs to be," Mina responds. "So she's going to show you how powerful people can be. After her, she'll probably set you up to fight Ellis. Then...probably more than one person." 

 

"Lovely," Chaeyoung groans, falling face forward onto their bed. She turns around to stare at the ceiling. "Just lovely."

 

"It'll be fine," Mina replies, taking off her shirt to put on a bed shirt while Chaeyoung isn't looking. "You're strong. Really strong. You just have to trust yourself, Chaengie." 

 

"And Adrian," Chaeyoung corrects. 

 

_"I've been called?"_

 

_You have not, but go ahead and join the conversation._

 

"I'm joining the conversation," Adrian says through Chaeyoung. "I'll make sure to take good care of Chaeyoung during battle, Miss Myoui. No need to force her into this torture." He sighs in disgust. "Her arms are completely sore. I don't even understand how she made her way to come into this room!" 

 

Mina smiles shyly. "Well, I want her to be strong for battle-" 

 

"Yes, but I'm here!" Adrian quickly replies. "I can protect her. I've been alive for more years than milliseconds you've lived." 

 

"But can you really?" 

 

"I vowed to protect my master when I was created, Miss Myoui. Have faith in me. I'm willing to take my spiritual life for her." 

 

"Fine. I'll calm down, Adrian, but I'm still training her." 

 

"Just not as harshly please?" Chaeyoung squeaks. "You were yelling at me and I thought you were going to pop my head off." 

 

Mina laughs and places a soft kiss onto Chaeyoung's forehead. "I wouldn't hurt you, you know that." 

 

"You sure seemed like you were gonna." 

 

"I promise I'll never."

 

Chaeyoung smiles and kisses Mina again. 

 

"And sorry for keeping you up so late," Mina sighs, laying on her side of the bed. 

 

"It's okay. I need to train or I'm screwed." 

 

"Yeah, but I don't need to be so hard on you." 

 

"It's okay, you're cute when you're mad." 

 

Mina blushes. "N-no-" 

 

"Yes!" Chaeyoung boops Mina's nose and kisses her. "You're the cutest." 

 

Mina grunts and pulls herself under the blankets of their bed. "Just go to sleep, you loser." 

 

Chaeyoung raises a brow. "Loser? Me? I think you're speaking to the wrong person." 

 

 

"Just go to bed. You're the one who's complaining about sleeping." 

 

Chaeyoung lays beside Mina. "Ok." 

 

"Goodnight." Mina kisses Chaeyoung on the forehead.

 

"Goodnight." 

 

 

* * *

 

 

**Monday, November 26 (after they sleep)**

 

"Thanks again for breakfast, Sana!" Tzuyu shouts before following some of the group into the training room. "Don't be too long before you-" 

 

"Tzuyu, please!" Nayeon groans. "I have a headache." 

 

"How?" 

 

"Jeongyeon wouldn't stop talking about the timeline all night last night." 

 

Jihyo shakes her head and sighs. "Did you tell her to take a break?" 

 

Nayeon nods. "About eight hundred times. Eventually, she just passed out." 

 

"You guys should chain her up or something," Chaeyoung responds. 

 

"She'd probably find another way to keep track of everything," Tzuyu laughs. "She's insane." 

 

"She's Jeongyeon," Mina quickly corrects.

 

"Okay, kids," Jihyo interjects. "Battle form." 

 

Everyone but Chaeyoung is quick to get into the formation. Mina gives Chaeyoung a look, which Chaeyoung can't quite read. 

 

"Chaeyoung?" Jihyo continues. "Battle form?"

 

Chaeyoung quickly gets into the formation Mina had showed her last night and smiles wearily. 

 

"Good," Jihyo says nodding. "Should we do blocks?" 

 

"Probably blocks and hits," Tzuyu responds, "since Chaeyoung isn't familiar with much." 

 

Jihyo nods. "Okay." She makes her way to Chaeyoung and stands closely in front of her. "I'll be throwing an attack. Your job is simple, block it and then hit me back." 

 

"Just don't kill her," Mina adds. "Don't use your powers to attack back." 

 

Chaeyoung nods. "Alright." 

 

"Okay, I'll go slowly at first, but I'm going to speed up my attacks and make them stronger," Jihyo says. 

 

Jihyo throws a slow and weak punch to Chaeyoung. She's quick to hit it away and punch Jihyo lightly in the stomach. She's careful not to punch hard. Heck, she barely touches her.

 

"Actually hit me, Chaeyoung," Jihyo says, "or you'll get into the habit of not hitting with your full potential." 

 

Chaeyoung nods in response. 

 

Jihyo does the same move again. Chaeyoung hit it away and gives Jihyo a hard punch in the stomach. Jihyo winces. 

 

"Good job," Jihyo responds. "I'm going to p-put padding on now that I think of it." 

 

Mina snorts as Jihyo walks away. "You must've hit her hard." 

 

"I-I didn't mean to!" Chaeyoung shouts. "S-should I see if she-" 

 

"No it's a good thing," Mina responds, moving over closer to Chaeyoung when she notices Sana walk into the room. 

 

"Where's Jihyo going?" Sana asks. 

 

"Armor," Nayeon responds. "Chaeyoung hit her hard." 

 

Sana giggles. "That's good, Chaengie. Being able to hurt Jihyo is the key to success. She's powerful because she's practically invincible to pain. You see the damage physically, but she doesn't feel it." 

 

"That's really cool!" Chaeyoung responds. "Does she still have healing?" 

 

"We all do, yeah," Nayeon responds. "She just can keep going even when she's bleeding to death." 

 

"She doesn't heal faster though," Tzuyu adds. 

 

"And she's so strong too!" Sana says. "She doesn't even have a lot of super strength. It's all just from her training." 

 

"Whoa...." Chaeyoung's mouth is open agape. 

 

"What's so cool?" Jihyo asks as she waddles into the room, her body completely covered by blue pads. 

 

"You," Chaeyoung responds quickly. 

 

Jihyo's cheeks turn a light pink. "M-me?" 

 

"Yeah you. Your powers are awesome." 

 

Jihyo smiles, laughing quietly. "Thanks, Chaengie. You're cool too." 

 

Chaeyoung smiles. Mina crosses her arms and huffs. 

 

Chaeyoung raises a brow and turns to Mina. "What?" 

 

Mina becomes embarrassed, her face turning red and posture less confident than only seconds ago. "N-nothing," she quickly responds. 

 

"Someone's jealous," Nayeon giggles, rolling her eyes.

 

"N-no!" Mina yells back. 

 

Sana smiles and pulls Mina into a tight hug. "Mina is cute when she's embarrassed!" 

 

Nayeon slaps her thigh, laughing loudly. "Oh gosh, Mina!" 

 

Mina's face turns a brighter red. "I'm not jealous! Guys-" 

 

"You're cool too, Mina," Chaeyoung interjects. Mina turns to face Chaeyoung, in shock. "The coolest." 

 

Mina visibly relaxes, Nayeon stops laughing, and Tzuyu pries Sana off of Mina. 

 

"I think I'm going to throw up," Jeongyeon says from behind. Nayeon smiles at the sight of her girlfriend. "You two are so in love that I feel nauseous." 

 

Jihyo laughs loudly. "Says the one that traveled through trillions of timelines to make sure you and Nayeon had the perfect first date." 

 

Jeongyeon's face turns red and Nayeon starts laughing. "W-well..." Jeongyeon stutters. "I r-really liked her!" 

 

"And you still are exactly as whipped now as you were years ago," Tzuyu giggles. 

 

Jeongyeon only sighs, leaving the room without any response to her friend's teases.

 

"She's so whipped for me," Nayeon announces, her voice quiet. She raises her voice, "AND I LOVE HER TOO!" 

 

Jeongyeon pops her head back into the room, smiling. "Love you too, Nabongs." 

 

Nayeon blushes at her nickname and smiles. "Now shoo." She motions Jeongyeon to leave. "Or train with us." 

 

Jeongyeon nods and walks into the doorway. "I'll train." She finds her place beside Nayeon and wraps her arm around her waist.

 

Jihyo nods. "Okay, then...positions. I'm going to do Chaeyoung again." Jihyo waddles over to Chaeyoung and stands in front of her. "I'm going to go faster."

 

Jihyo throws a punch much faster than the last. Chaeyoung still blocks in with ease and gets a good hit on Jihyo's stomach again.

 

Jihyo seems surprised and nods proudly before going around all of the other girls. Nayeon misses a couple times, getting a good punch in a face from all of them. She starts bleedings and Jeongyeon freaks out. She ends up tackling Jihyo to the floor and yelling at her for hurting her girlfriend. Jihyo's screaming, managing to run around the room while Jeongyeon is chasing her, rage filled in her eyes. 

 

Nayeon's face is in her hands and she's trying not to cry because the punch definitely hurt. Now Sana is rolling on the floor, laughing, which makes Tzuyu start to laugh and eventually join Sana on the floor. 

 

Mina and Chaeyoung are both horrified, exchanging glances, until Mina snort and helps uses her powers to trip Jeongyeon. Jeongyeon turns to Mina and then starts to run after her instead.

 

Now Mina is screaming, something along the lines of, "Chaeyoung, please help me," but Chaeyoung is too scared to do anything to Jeongyeon. Then, Jeongyeon uses her powers to appear in front of Mina, scaring her. Mina scrambles back, falling and completely out of breath as she laughs. Jeongyeon only smiles and holds out a hand to help Mina up. 

 

"You're fast, Mina," Jeongyeon laughs, pulling Mina up from the floor. She turns to Jihyo, who's still struggling to catch her breath. "You too, Ji." 

 

Jihyo smiles. "Thanks." 

 

Mina waddles to Chaeyoung, clearly sore already from running so much. Chaeyoung can only laugh, wrapping her arms around Mina's neck and letting her lean on her as she regains her strength. 

 

"Looks like we've earned a breaktime, no?" Tzuyu says. 

 

"I think so too," Jihyo responds. "Anyone want to see if everyone wants to go out to eat?" 

 

Sana nods frantically. "I'm starving." 

 

"Same," Jeongyeon adds. 

 

"Please," Chaeyoung says, her voice squeaking. 

 

Mina laughs, wrapping her arm around Chaeyoung's waist. "My girlfriend is starving, guys!" 

 

"I heard food?" Momo screams the living room.

 

"Food?" Dahyun yells. "I'm starving!" 

 

"What about eating?" Ellis yells. He pops his head into the training room. "I'll eat." 

 

Jihyo smiles and opens her arms for Ellis. His face lights up and he makes his way to Jihyo and hugs her tightly, placing a kiss on her forehead. 

 

_"Aren't they so cute?" Mina asks._

 

_They really are, but isn't it weird that your best friend is dating your brother?_

 

_"Not at all. All that matters to me is that they're both happy."_

 

"So are we going out to eat?" Momo asks, coming into the room with Dahyun.

 

"Yeah, sure," Jihyo responds. "Get dressed and bring weapons. You can't be too careful." 

 

"Weapons? What weapons?" Chaeyoung asks. 

 

"Well, you," Dahyun laughs. She wraps an arm around Momo's neck, "and probably a gun or two." 

 

"Guns?" Chaeyoung feels her face go pale. 

 

"Not actual guns," Mina is quick to respond. "They're specialized so that we don't kill, just taze." 

 

Chaeyoung visibly calms down. "Oh...oh ok." 

 

Jihyo laughs. "You think _we_ would know how to use a gun?" She laughs loudly. "As if." 

 

"I'd end up shooting it backwards and kill myself," Sana adds, "or at someone on our team." 

 

Tzuyu nods. "I could totally see that." 

 

"Food?" Momo yells. "C'mon! Quit talking and get ready! I'm hungggrrrrryyyy!" 

 

Everyone seems to roll their eyes at the same time. 

 

"Fine," Nayeon snaps. She waves her arms around, making Chaeyoung flinch and quickly move out of her way. "Everyone! Move it. Get ready or Momoring is gonna' starve to death." 

 

"Thank you," Momo exclaims. "I'll be getting ready." 

 

Momo disappears beside Dahyun, jumping happily in the air as they enter their room.

 

Nayeon pokes the back of Chaeyoung head. "You two, kid. Get ready or you don't get food." 

 

Mina pouts. "Don't hurt her." 

 

Nayeon holds up her pointer finger at Mina and frowns. "You'll be next." 

 

Mina is quick to run behind Chaeyoung. "P-please no." 

 

Nayeon raises a brow. "Then get ready. Both of you." 

 

Both girls nod frantically run as fast as they can out of the room and away from Nayeon. 

 

Breathless, they change and get themselves ready to be in public. 

 

They're very careful to make sure they don't get noticed. 


	15. The Dinner

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dinner doesn't go as planned.
> 
> Death does it's unholy job.

(cont. from last chapter) 

 

"I  _want three plates of jokbal,"_ Momo snaps, "puh- _lease."_

 

"Ma'am..." the waiter's voice shakes as he reponds "...w-we can't do that-" 

 

"I said  _three,"_ Momo snaps again. "Three is the only number I'll accept in plates." 

 

"M-momo, Jihyo said don't make a scene..." Dahyun whispers into her ear.

 

"Yeah and I'm hungry," she quickly shoots back. "Three plates of jokbal." Momo's face turns sour. "Or else." 

 

"O-oh...a-alright, ma'am I'll see w-what I can d-do..." he turns to Dahyun, a pleading look in his eyes. "W-what would you like, Ma'am?" 

 

"I'll just take the thingy you said before." 

 

"T-the special?" 

 

Dahyun nods. "That." 

 

"Ok. You?" he turns to Chaeyoung. 

 

"I'm sharing with her," Chaeyoung responds, pointing to Mina next to her, "and we'll be getting the uh...what's it called?" 

 

Mina giggles. "The couple special." 

 

The waiter's face lights up and he nods. "Okay." He walks further down the table to Jihyo and Ellis. "You, Ma'am?" 

 

"We're going to get the couple special too," Ellis responds, running his hand through his long hair. "Please." The waiter nods and goes to Sana and Tzuyu. 

 

"We'll take  _one_ jokbal," Tzuyu says before the waiting even asks the question, shooting Momo a look. 

 

The waiter nods and finally makes his way to Jeongyeon and Nayeon. "And what would you like, ma'am?" he asks Nayeon.

 

"A salad please," she responds, "and can I get extra eggs on it?" 

 

He nods and writes it down. "And you, ma'am?" 

 

"Uh..." Jeongyeon searches through her menu furiously. "...the soup. What soup did I just say-" 

 

"Pho," Nayeon says. "She wants the pho." 

 

Jeongyeon puts down her menu, looking happily and releaved at Nayeon. 'Thank you,' she mouths. 'I'm a mess.' 

 

Nayeon nods. "I know."

 

"So...uh..." Jihyo coughs loudly. "....Jeongyeon, anything figured out yet? I'm surprised you came to eat with us." 

 

Jeongyeon sighs. "Well, I've managed to shift a couple things from the past to make things go better, but I haven't seen the future yet for this timeline." 

 

Sana's eyes widen. "So...we're the experiment line now?" 

 

Jeongyeon nods sadly. "I have no clue how to predict this timeline now, so you'll have to watch your back." Jeongyeon's face hardens. "I can't let anything happen to you all. You're my family and I would be devastated to lose any of you." 

 

"Especially Nayeon," Dahyun giggles. 

 

Jeongyeon smiles and laughs shyly. "Especially Nayeon." 

 

Nayeon wraps her arm around Jeongyeon's neck and smiles brightly. "So we're going to do everything we can to  _not_ make Jeongyeon have to jump a thousand times, right?" 

 

Everyone nods furiously. 

 

"Thanks, guys," Jeongyeon croaks. "I really do need a break. Jumping takes a lot out of me. It doesn't help that I can't sleep thinking that this is the final timeline." Jeongyeon sighs. "I've finally fixed everything I can to this point...but I don't think I could handle-" 

 

"We can deal with whatever comes at us," Chaeyoung interupts. Her face turns red. "U-uh sorry..." 

 

"No. It's fine. Continue," Jeongyeon responds. 

 

"You're clearly killing yourself over this. They've all told me that you work your butt off to protect us and then you all fight with your all. It's inspirational. Though, you deserve a break, Jeongyeon. You've been fighting this timeline for years, have you not?" Jeongyeon nods as Chaeyoung speaks. "So maybe...let this timeline go naturally?" 

 

"I think it's risky, but she's got a point," Jihyo adds. "The world can go without a shift in time a couple days. You really should rest. We all know you'll very accept never traveling far back again, so at least let yourself have a break." 

 

"I guess I could try," Jeongyeon whimpers. "But I can't guarantee I won't be nervous." 

 

"You're allowed to be nervous," Jihyo says. "You're allowed to keep killing yourself over this, but we're just suggesting that you don't jump for a while." 

 

Jeongyeon nods. "I promise I'll try." 

 

"Go, Jeongyeon!" Dahyun shouts from the other side of the table. "That's our boyfriend Jeongyeon!" 

 

Jeongyeon blushes. "Dahyun-" 

 

"Nooooo! We've already all agreed your the boyfriend of the group!" Dahyun yells back. 

 

"What about me?" Ellis asks, shocked. "I'm literally a boyfriend-" 

 

"Statement denied!" Sana shouts. "Jeongyeon is the boyfriend!" 

 

Tzuyu giggles. "It's been our joke for forever, Ellis. How come you don't recall it?" 

 

He sighs and shrugs. "It's been a couple...years." 

 

Mina laughs and punches Ellis playfully. "Your memory sucks." 

 

Ellis raises a brow. "You suck." 

 

Mina gasps. "Well you look like a yeti." 

 

Ellis opens his mouth in shock. "I've been chained up for the past couple years and you expect me to look good?" 

 

"Your beard is  _not_ hot." 

 

"I'll cut it tomorrow," Jihyo interupts, taking a sip of her water. She's shocked by the glares from both siblings and nearly chokes on her water. "What!?"  

 

Mina shakes her head and turns back to Chaeyoung, Momo, and Dahyun. She raises her Pepsi with a smile. "To the best side of the table!" 

 

"Hey!" Nayeon shouts from across the table. "We're the best side over here!" 

 

"Just because you have more people over there doesn't make your side the best side," Momo snaps. "We're the best because we're the most powerful." 

 

"As if," Ellis snaps back. "Jihyo and I could take you all down if we wanted." 

 

"I..." Momo gulps. "I won't fight that statement." 

 

"It's true," Dahyun sighs. "We're pretty weak." 

 

Jihyo hits Ellis. "You two are still powerful and you're an important part of this team. You're super strong-" 

 

"Just not as strong as us," Ellis teases. He receives another slap from Jihyo.

 

"He's stupid," Jihyo grumbles. "Don't listen to him." 

 

"Don't worry," Mina giggles. "I've learned to tune him out."

 

Jihyo laughs and turns to face Ellis, who's pouting and grumbling to himself. 

 

"Our appetizers are here, you wierdo," Jihyo giggles. "Cheer up." 

 

"I'm happy when I'm with you. Don't worry," Ellis says, wrapping his arm around her neck. "Because I'm always happy around you." 

 

"Disgusting," Nayeon giggles to Jeongyeon, clearly pointing it towards Ellis and Jihyo. 

 

Ellis and Jihyo only roll their eyes and take as much food as they please.

 

Momo waits very patiently for the food as it get's passed around the table. She clearly keeps her eyes on some, her face brightening up when it goes near her, but they frowning again when someone else takes in on the other side.

 

"Momoring," Dahyun whispers. "Why aren't you eating?" 

 

Momo shrugs, taking a shrimp from Dahyun place and taking a bite of it. "I'm going to finish the rest of the appetizers. I did the math and we'll have plenty to spare."

 

Dahyun laughs and kisses Momo a kiss. "That's the Momo I know and love." 

 

"I'm telling you Mina-" 

 

Mina slams her hand on the table, shutting Chaeyoung up. "No! I swear to god, Chaeyoung-" 

 

"No! I'm serious! I was friend with an actor in that show and he dies-" 

 

"He  _does not die!"_

 

"Mina-" 

 

"No!" She covers her ears with her hands. "He  _doesn't_ die! He's my favorite character! They can't just kill my favorite character! Where's you phone? I'm emailing the producer...." 

 

"Tzuyu-ya!" Sana screams. 

 

Tzuyu turns towards her, her face showing her confused. "Yeah?" 

 

"Kiss me?" 

 

Tzuyu laughs and her cheeks turn a light pink. 

 

"Please?" Sana pouts.

 

Tzuyu nods and places a soft kiss on her girlfriend's lips. "Good?" 

 

Sana smiles. "Perfect." 

 

"...so Momo's a cook now?" Ellis asks, putting a handful of foods in his mouth. "Since when does she  _not_ eat everything?" 

 

Jihyo shakes her head and sighs. "I don't know. Maybe Dahyun convinced her to calm down on her habits?" 

 

Ellis nods. "I could imagine Momo listening to only Dahyun when she says that." 

 

Jihyo laughs. "Nowadays, Momo basically  _only_ listens to Dahyun." 

 

"I'm telling you, Jeong," Nayeon says with a sigh. "The timeline is out of your power now." 

 

"But what if something happens?" Jeongyeon questions. 

 

"We'll figure it out then. For now, eat. Please. You haven't eaten properly or rested in forever." 

 

Jeongyeon almost feels guilty, seeing her girlfriend's worried expression and does exactly that. 

 

"Thank you," Nayeon croaks, placing a kiss on Jeongyeon's cheek. 

 

Jeongyeon smiles. 

 

"And she cooks with Dahyun? No wonder..." Ellis shakes his head, clearly piecing everything togther. "So Dahyun keeps her from eating." 

 

"Correct." Jihyo nods.

 

"Sana," Tzuyu grumbles. "Your fork..." 

 

Sana glances up from her plate. "What about it?" 

 

"...Use it?" 

 

Sana giggles. "Our fingers weren't made to never use, Tzuyu."

 

Tzuyu sighs and face palms. "Sana, please. One normal dinner is all I want-" 

 

"Never!" 

 

"Say 'ah!'" Mina says, giggling as she holds up her fork to Chaeyoung's mouth. 

 

Chaeyoung raises a brow, but breaks out into laughter only seconds later. Reluctantly, she opens her mouth for Mina to feed her. 

 

"Cute," Sana giggles from beside them. 

 

"Me?" Mina asks. "I know already." 

 

Chaeyoung snorts. "She was talking to me, Mina." 

 

Mina gasps. "You..." she turns back to Sana. "Who were you talking to?" 

 

Sana's eyes open in confusion. "Both of you? I was saying you're both cute-" 

 

"See-" 

 

"Son Chaeyoung-" 

 

"So I said," Momo continues. "Dahyun, you really-" 

 

"Sweetie," Dahyun interrupts. 

 

"Yeah?" Momo responds. 

 

"I'm Dahyun." 

 

"Yeah...and?" 

 

"I know what happened already?" 

 

"Wait how...?....OH! Oh my god I'm so stupid-" 

 

"No, Momoring, you aren't stupid-" 

 

"Please, Dahyun, don't try-" 

 

"Momo-" 

 

"No. Now I'm depressed-" 

 

"Momo-" 

 

"How can two people be equally cute though?" Mina asks, giving Sana a nasty look. 

 

"I wasn't saying one of you were cute, I was saying you were cute as a couple..." Sana answers, her voice seemingly confused. 

 

"God...please, guys-" 

 

"And so I've missed literally nothing?" Ellis asks. 

 

Jihyo shakes her head. "Nothing except for Mina and Chaeyoung-" 

 

"What about us?" Mina yells from down the table. "I heard my name." 

 

"Just talking about you and Chaeyoung," Ellis responds. 

 

"What about me?" Chaeyoung yells. 

 

Jihyo rolls her eyes. "We're talking about how Ellis missed you too getting together." 

 

"Ooooooh." Chaeyoung nods. "It only happened recently, so you just missed it." 

 

"Darn," Ellis grumbles sarcastically. "Wish I could've made fun of her before you starting dating." 

 

"They became official like...immediately," Dahyun snickers. "Momo and I took almost five years before either of us even  _confessed."_

 

"It was a mutual agreement that we liked each other," Mina snaps, sticking out her tongue at Dahyun, "so it was  _fine_ to decide it so early." 

 

"Blah blah blah fine to decide it-" 

 

"I'll slap you, Kim," Mina snaps. 

 

Momo gasps. "You wouldn't dare touch my girlfriend." 

 

"Oh...I would," Mina giggles. 

 

 

Chaeyoung smiles and looks over at Dahyun, who's giving Mina a dirty look. Only a second later, Dahyun hand's hits her face with a loud slap. Both Dahyun and Momo are shocked, their eyes going wide. Dahyun eyes are especially wide, confused why she just slapped herself...but didn't.

 

"I don't need to touch you to slap you," Mina sighs happily. "I have mind p-" 

 

"We're in public," Jihyo hisses. "Not here!" 

 

"Excuse me, ma'am," someone says from behind. Everyone turns to face the voice. 

 

"M-momo," Dahyun croaks. 

 

"May I just say, you're very  _very_ bad at hiding in public places," he snickers.

 

"M-momor-ring..." Dahyun repeats.

 

Everyone turns to face Dahyun, their faces turn pale when they see what is happening. 

 

A giant spear through her chest and blood pouring from her mouth, Dahyun sits at the table, shock plastered all over her face. 

 

Momo's eyes immediately tears up and she's quick to attempt to comfort her girlfriend, but she knows her healing won't do anything about a sharp object through the heart. 

 

Then a sharp inhale can be heard over by Jeongyeon and Nayeon. Nayeon slumps forward, her face slamming onto the table with a loud crash. 

 

Tzuyu is next, her body splitting practically in half. Then, Mina, Sana, Jihyo-

 

Jeongyeon runs. What else was she supposed to do? Let herself die? Fight when she knows she won't win? Watch her family die in front of her eyes? 

 

She's out of breath by the time she reaches a spot  _far_ away from the chaos ensuing in the restaurant.

 

 _You're a wuss,_ she thinks to herself.  _You left your girlfriend there to die alone and in the hands on insane people._

 

She slaps herself internally. She's freaking out; her heart is going a million miles an hour and she feels this emptiness in herself without Nayeon by her side. 

 

She has no clue what to do! There isn't going back-

 

But there is. 

 

She quickly readies herself mentally for the jump. 

 

And then she jumps back in time. 

 

Where was she at the time? She shakes her head, running as fast as she can to the Cafe. 

 

She's out of breathing and panting for breath as she enters their home, running and searching for Nayeon. Finally, she sees her in the training room with the rest of the girls and tackles her to the floor, kissing her deeply.  

 

"J-jeong? Jeong, what are you doing?" Nayeon asks as Jeongyeon finally pulls away. Nayeon swipes away the tears streaming down her face. That's when Nayeon's expression (and everyone else's) changes. "You're from the future, aren't you?" 

 

Jeongyeon nods slowly. "Everyone died." 

 

"Except you?" Jihyo asks, concerned. "How?" 

 

"I ran," Jeongyeon croaks. "Like a big wuss." Jeongyeon turns turns back towards Nayeon, lips quivering. "I left you there to die with the insane person that-" 

 

"Person?" Tzuyu says. "Who? Tell us everything!" 

 

"I-I didn't see him, but we were at a resturant...t-too celebrate our training or something and it was so fun, but then some dude came up and D-dahyun died and-" 

 

"I died?" Dahyun pops through the doorway. "What's going on?" 

 

"Jeongyeon jumped again," Jihyo answers. "We all died." 

 

Momo follows into the room after Dahyun. "S-so what do we do?" 

 

"Well...obviously not what we did in Jeongyeon's timeline," Mina snickers. "So no restaurant? Perhaps...do you all want to order food instead?" 

 

"This isn't a joking matter," Jeongyeon snaps. "There's someone out there looking for us  _now._ " 

 

"So we stay put," Tzuyu responds. "He can't get us where we are completely protected." 

 

"No one goes out or in," Jihyo adds. "Then no clones can come in." 

 

Jeongyeon nods, seemingly calming down. "I'm glad you're all okay now....seeing you all die-" 

 

"We're alive," Nayeon says calmy. "You don't need to worry." 

 

Jeongyeon nods. "Right." 

 

Nayeon gives her a girlfriend a reassuring kiss. "See? I'm still here." 

 

Jeongyeon nods again. "And I love you for that." 

 


End file.
